By Nkechinyere Ewa
The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) and the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) have called for stronger media engagement to improve public understanding and demand for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as Nigeria intensifies efforts to prevent new HIV infections.
The agencies made the call at a two-day national training for journalists and media professionals on PrEP in Lagos, where participants were equipped with technical knowledge to report HIV prevention accurately and help combat misinformation and stigma.
PrEP is an HIV prevention intervention for people who are HIV-negative but may be at risk of acquiring the virus. NACA’s recent media training has focused on helping journalists understand PrEP, its effectiveness, eligibility, benefits and available options, while developing accurate, evidence-based and stigma-free messages for traditional and digital platforms.
The success of HIV prevention depends not only on developing and providing prevention tools, but also on ensuring that people understand them, trust the information they receive and know how to access appropriate services.
Represented by its Head of Public Relations and Protocol, Toyin Aderibigbe, NACA Director-General, Temitope Ilori, said the media had an important role to play in ensuring that Nigerians received reliable information about HIV prevention.
Ilori said that although Nigeria had made sustained progress in HIV testing, treatment and care, prevention remained a critical component of the national response.
She stressed that making prevention services available was not enough without adequate public awareness, noting that people needed to understand their prevention options, know where services were available and feel confident accessing them.
According to her, inaccurate or sensational reporting could create fear, reinforce HIV-related stigma and discourage people from accessing prevention services.
She therefore urged journalists to report PrEP and HIV prevention “accurately, responsibly, respectfully and without stigma”, while using their platforms to address questions Nigerians might be reluctant to ask, including who can use PrEP, how it works, the available options and where services can be accessed.
“Your reporting should make these issues understandable to ordinary Nigerians,” she said.
The NACA Director-General also urged journalists to translate complex medical information into simple, engaging stories capable of reaching audiences through television, radio, newspapers, online platforms and social media.
She noted that the role of the media had become increasingly important as young people and other audiences increasingly turned to digital platforms for health information.
Ilori said the training should not be regarded as a one-off engagement, but as the beginning of a sustained partnership among NACA, the media, development partners and the wider digital communication community.
She said journalists would be required to help challenge misinformation, increase awareness and support demand for HIV prevention services under Nigeria’s National Strategic Plan 2026–2030, which NACA says emphasises sustainability, innovation, stronger partnerships, community engagement and an integrated national HIV response.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of IHVN, Patrick Dakum, represented by the organisation’s Senior Programme Manager, Prevention, Comfort Amina Ochigbo, commended NACA for engaging the media on PrEP.
Ochigbo said IHVN was working with NACA and other partners to implement the PrEP pilot programme, stressing that effective communication was essential to ensuring that communities understood the intervention.
She said the programme was being implemented across eight states and that effective demand creation was necessary to provide communities with accurate information and address misconceptions surrounding PrEP.
She added that improved public understanding would be critical to supporting the eventual scale-up of PrEP and strengthening Nigeria’s HIV prevention response.
For Uchechi Nzenwata, the National AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and STIs Control Programme (NASCP) focal person for Advocacy, Communications and Social Mobilisation, collaboration between health institutions and the media remained essential to building public trust in HIV prevention.
Nzenwata said responsible reporting would help ensure that communities received evidence-based information capable of supporting informed decisions about HIV prevention.
The training featured technical presentations, interactive discussions, question-and-answer sessions and practical exercises on HIV transmission, prevention and PrEP. Participants also examined common myths and misconceptions and explored ways of producing simple, engaging and audience-specific content.
The emphasis on PrEP comes as Nigeria continues to strengthen its HIV prevention response. NACA’s current prevention resources identify PrEP as one of the evidence-based interventions within combination HIV prevention, alongside other prevention approaches.
The participants, in seperate submissions, pledged to apply the knowledge acquired to produce accurate, evidence-based and non-stigmatising reports on PrEP and other HIV prevention interventions.