From The Darkest Of Days To A New Dawn: 35 YEARS of the Nigerian Response to HIV and AIDS

Chapter 1 highlights the first cases of HIV in Nigeria in the mid-1980s and goes on to tell

the story of how it became an epidemic in the 1990s and how the Nigerian people and

their government responded boldly and proactively in the early days of the epidemic, both

nationally and on the African continent.

Chapter 2 covers the years 2004 to 2015 when Nigeria’s HIV response was characterized

by reliance on the international support for HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and support

programs.

Chapter 3 brings us to the present when Nigeria has once again prioritized national

responsibility for its HIV programming and again taken a leadership role in the international

response.

Chapter 4 introduces the COVID-19 pandemic, a critical time in the new dawn, when health

systems are x-rayed and tested, and the need for urgency and the protection of rights are

paramount. Here, lessons from the HIV response were quickly adapted to curtail the dual

pandemics.

Chapter 5 concludes the account of the journey so far and rounds off the story with some

parting visionary remarks by key figures in the Nigerian HIV leadership.

• The Road Ahead in the Words of Key Figures in the Nigerian HIV Leadership