New data from the National Agency for the Control of AIDS reveals that Rivers State currently has the highest number of people living with HIV in Nigeria, with a staggering 208,767 cases.
Following closely are Benue State with 202,346 and Akwa Ibom with 161,597, placing them at the top of the HIV spectrum estimates released for 2024.
The report underscores a sobering reality: more than two million Nigerians are currently living with HIV, emphasizing the urgency for sustained public health efforts around testing, prevention, and access to treatment.
Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial nerve center, ranks fourth with 108,649 HIV cases. Anambra follows with 100,429, while the Federal Capital Territory emerges as the most affected in the North-Central region, with 83,333 reported cases.
Other states showing high prevalence rates include Delta (68,170), Imo (67,944), Enugu (61,028), Edo (60,095), and Taraba (58,460). The middle bracket includes states like Abia (54,655), Kaduna (54,458), Kano (53,972), Plateau (51,736), Borno (50,433), and Oyo (50,063). Cross River (43,452), Ogun (43,348), and Nasarawa (44,993) are also notable.
Further down the list, Adamawa recorded 40,059 cases, while Gombe (31,825), Jigawa (31,409), Osun (30,714), and Niger (29,756) trailed closely. Bauchi (28,698), Kogi (28,421), Ondo (27,150), and Katsina (26,788) fall into the lower-middle prevalence category, while Bayelsa recorded 25,339 cases.
The states with the lowest numbers of HIV cases include Kwara (20,259), Kebbi (19,339), Ekiti (18,857), Sokoto (15,223), Ebonyi (14,151), Zamfara (13,253), and Yobe (11,956).
Alarmingly, the estimates also indicate that 43,683 people died from HIV-related causes over the past year. Adult deaths accounted for 28,589, 13,650 males and 14,939 females—while 15,094 children aged 0–14 also lost their lives to the virus.
The data further show that 1,753,425 people living with HIV are aware of their status, comprising 1,693,457 adults (579,209 males and 1,114,401 females) and 54,983 children.
Encouragingly, access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) continues to improve, with 1,735,808 people currently on treatment. Of this number, 1,690,057 are adults (577,632 males and 1,112,425 females), while 45,751 are children.
Testing for viral suppression among those receiving treatment reached 1,160,256, with 1,112,339 confirmed to have a suppressed viral load. Adults made up 1,083,177 of these (363,531 males and 719,645 females), with 29,162 children also showing suppressed viral loads.
However, gaps remain in preventing mother-to-child transmission. Out of 93,186 pregnant women identified as needing ART, only 31,095 received the medication.
In response to these challenges, NACA’s Director-General, Dr. Temitope Ilori, provided assurance regarding drug availability.
“The Federal Executive Council approved $1.07bn to finance healthcare sector reforms under the Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity programme. Additionally, N4.8bn was approved for HIV treatment, and the Nigerian Senate has recently allocated N300bn to the health sector in the 2025 budget,” Ilori explained.
She added that these financial commitments are part of broader plans to close the funding gap left by a recent pause in U.S. aid.
She emphasised that the government is mobilising resources to ensure the sustainability of Nigeria’s HIV response.
