Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health has released new data showing Lagos State recorded the highest number of new HIV infections in the country last year. According to the ministry’s State of the Health of the Nation Report for 2025, Lagos logged 10,430 new cases, the most of any state or the Federal Capital Territory. Nationwide, a total of 102,025 new HIV infections were recorded throughout the year.
Rivers State followed with 6,287 new cases, and Kano State came third with just over 6,000. Other states rounding out the top ten include Akwa Ibom, Taraba, Benue, Anambra, Kaduna, Adamawa, and the FCT. At the other end of the scale, Ekiti recorded the fewest new infections nationwide, with fewer than five hundred cases.
Health officials are urging caution in how the figures are interpreted. Experts stress the numbers reflect newly reported cases, shaped by factors like population size and access to testing, and not overall HIV prevalence in each state. Nationally, Nigeria’s adult HIV prevalence remains around 1.3 percent, with an estimated 1.9 million people living with the virus, according to the National Agency for the Control of AIDS. The report renews calls from health experts for sustained investment in HIV prevention, testing and treatment across the country.
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