2025 WORLD AIDS DAY: FCTA MOVES TO STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY-LED HIV RESPONSE
By: Khadijat Kawunda and Chukwunonso Chukwurah
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has renewed its push for a community-owned, sustainable HIV response as government leaders, development partners, healthcare experts, and civil-society actors gathered for the 2025 World AIDS Day Symposium.
Held on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025, the meeting shifted the spotlight away from donor-driven interventions toward home-grown solutions, deeper community engagement, and long-term resilience in the FCT’s HIV/AIDS programming.
The Mandate Secretary, Health Services and Environment Secretariat (HSES), Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe, emphasized that the future of the HIV response rests on local ownership.
Speaking on behalf of the Mandate Secretary, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Baba Gana Adam, noted that while Nigeria has made significant progress in raising viral suppression rates, stronger linkages to treatment, and integrated service delivery, the era of depending solely on foreign aid is over.
Her words: “There is improved case‑finding, stronger linkages to treatment, rising viral suppression and deeper integration of HIV services with tuberculosis, malaria, maternal health and primary‑care programmes, and the symposium provides a vital moment for honest dialogue and renewed unity of purpose.”
She stressed the need for innovative domestic financing and broad-based community participation to sustain these gains.
Fasawe added that the FCTA remains committed to ensuring no resident is left behind, pledging to expand engagement with community structures, civil society actors, healthcare facilities, and development partners to sustain the progress made towards ending AIDS as a public‑health threat.
Acting Director of the FCT Public Health Department, Dr. Dan Gadzama, explained that this year’s theme, “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response,” while emphasizing on Sustaining Nigeria’s HIV Response, acknowledged both progress and persistent challenges, from shrinking donor funding to competing health priorities and emerging epidemics.
He said the symposium was designed to strengthen partnerships and reinforce a territory-wide, community-driven response, integrating HIV services with TB, malaria, STIs, viral hepatitis, and primary health care.
He equally urged participants to reflect on gains while tackling gaps by ensuring treatment access, combating stigma, expanding prevention, and leaving no one behind. He also expressed confidence that the discussions will forge a stronger community‑led, country‑owned HIV response in the FCT and nationwide.
Keynote Speaker and Chairman of the HIV Testing Services (HTS), Dr. Ali Onoja, used his address to honour the frontline workers and people living with HIV who have held the nation’s response together.
Reflecting on his 37-year journey in HIV care, from the days when test results took weeks to the modern era of 30-minute HIV self-testing, he warned that progress could stall without community leadership and innovation.
Also speaking, the Regional Manager of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), Dr. Tangkat Hosle, commended the FCTA for sustaining momentum in the HIV response.
The symposium concluded with a unified call for stakeholders to think boldly, act collaboratively, and invest meaningfully in a future where communities are at the heart of HIV prevention, care, and treatment.
Abuja Digest reports that as part of ongoing activities to mark the 2025 World AIDS Day, marked on December 1 annually, the Public Health Department’s HIV/AIDS unit will continue community-based flag-offs, screening, and testing across Lugbe in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and other area councils of the FCT.
