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From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria said it’s celebrating the International Condom Day (ICD) with a call on all and sundry to prioritize the use of condoms, as one of the most powerful and cost-effective tools in HIV and STI prevention.
In a statement issued to newsmen in Makurdi by the Advocacy and Marketing Manager, Steve Aborishade, AHF Nigeria said it is taking this year’s ICD celebration to Awka, Anambra state and to the University of Abuja, Faculty of Media and Communications Study and will combine fun, creativity, and education with free condom distribution, reinforcing the message that protecting sexual health should be accessible, stigma-free, and empowering for everyone.
According to the organization management, the surge in STI rates worldwide, particularly syphilis, is not a mystery but a result of diminished global funding especially when condoms are not prioritized for prevention.
They feared that without an immediate course correction, HIV will soon follow. They stated that each condom used helps safeguard decades of progress in the global HIV response and avoids far more costly setbacks.
The AHF Africa Bureau Chief Martin Matabishi, said “While HIV and STI burdens remain high across the continent, particularly syphilis and congenital syphilis, Africa is forced to do more with less, making prevention more important than ever,” said
“Condoms are cheap, effective, and proven, yet too often people can’t get them or face stigma for using them. With donor funding shrinking, governments must step up domestic health financing and remove barriers to access, which helps ensure condoms are freely and widely available. Cutting prevention now only leads to more infections, higher costs, and lives lost later.”
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On his part, AHF Nigeria Country Program Director (CPD), Dr. Echey Ijezie, noted that “We’re reminding everyone that using condoms is the best way and most cost-effective method to prevent HIV, other STIs, and unplanned pregnancies.”
According to them, sustaining HIV prevention and reversing rising STIs does not require new scientific innovations, it requires political will, sustained investment, and a renewed commitment to ensuring condoms are free or affordable and widely available to those who need them most.
To address this, AHF Nigeria said its ICD event themed “Just Use It” will include free distribution of AHF branded condoms (Love and Icon), condom awareness activities that includes condom education and free HIV testing.
“In Akwa, Anambra state, on the 12th of February, AHF and her partners will undertake a road walk that would be fun-filled and in the process share free condoms and provide condom education and free HIV testing to the public.
“Whereas on the 13th, in Abuja, students of the University of Abuja, particularly of the Faculty of Media and Communications Studies, shall be the audience of a prevention symposium that reinforces the need to halt the increasing rate of STIs and stem the tide of new HIV infection. The AHF Abuja Wellness Center shall also be on hand to provide free STIs screening.”
AIDS Healthcare Foundation celwbrates International Condom Day every February 13) celebrates condoms as the world’s best option for preventing HIV, other STIs, and unplanned pregnancies. It said ICD reminds us that condoms are safer, sexy, and must be kept at the center of protecting sexual health worldwide: “Just Use It!”
