By Peter Duru, Makurdi 

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria has called for greater investment in HIV/STI prevention, testing, and treatment programs and supportive policies that would expand access to healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health services. 

The global organisation stated that this could be done while period poverty, promotion of comprehensive sexuality education, and tackling of the drivers of health inequality, such as Gender-Based Violence and child marriage are being addressed.

The Advocacy and Marketing Manager of AHF Nigeria, Steve Aborisade in a statement ahead of the 2025 International Day of the Girl (IDG) noted that globally, adolescent girls and young women still face a disproportionate HIV burden. 

He said to mark the International Day of the Girl, AHF Nigeria would host an educational and empowerment event at Community Commercial Secondary School, Ikot Oku, Ubo, Offort, Uyo on October 10 “to help protect girls from HIV, honor their achievements, and reinforce the urgent need to expand opportunities for them to thrive and stay healthy.” 

According to him, “AHF Nigeria’s IDG event will include menstrual health management education, leadership empowerment talks, presentations by participating schools and out-of-school girls on their ideas of what girls deserve, while we shall honor outstanding ideas with gifts as we also distribute free sanitary pads (both reusable and disposable) and link adolescent young girls to mentoring opportunities in Akwa Ibom state.” 

He stated that the organisation would be joined by her CSO partners in the state, including the Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CISHAN), Center for Clinical Care and Clinical Research in Nigeria (CCCRN), Excellence Community Education Welfare Scheme (ECEWS), “as we expect the State AIDS and STIs Control Program (SACP) to also grace the occasion, while the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Inibehe Silas shall be leading other government officials to the commemoration.” 

Quoting the AHF Nigeria Country Program Director, CPD, Dr. Echey Ijezie he said “at AHF Nigeria, we are particularly concerned about the challenges that young adolescent girls are faced with – lack of access to education, poor menstrual health management, gender-based violence and a lack of access to comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRHR) services, which puts many young girls at risk.” 

He emphasized that despite the progress made the numbers still remain alarming. “Every week, 4,000 young women aged 15–24 become newly infected with HIV, with more than 3,300 of those cases in sub-Saharan Africa. 

“In 2023, 1.9 million adolescent girls and young women were living with HIV, compared to 1.2 million boys and young men of the same age. Education barriers are also severe, with 133 million girls worldwide out of school, cutting off vital pathways to future independence and healthy lives. 

 “International Day of the Girl, observed annually on October 11, is a time to celebrate girls’ accomplishments, amplify their voices, and advocate for policies that protect their health and futures. 

“Through its Girls Act program, AHF empowers girls and young women in nearly 40 countries with the knowledge, support, and resources to remain free from HIV and other STIs, adhere to treatment for girls living with HIV, stay in school, and avoid unplanned pregnancies.”