HIV scourge: Foundation calls for adoption of Girls Act model

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Nigeria, has called for the adoption of its Girls Act model as a strategy to reduce HIV infection among young women.

Advocacy and Marketing Manager of AHF Nigeria, Steve Aborisade, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja, as part of activities to commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child.

AHF said real progress has been recorded in the global effort against HIV/AIDS, but the defining work still lies with the young, and especially with young women.

It said women and adolescent girls bear a disproportionate burden of the HIV epidemic compared with men and boys, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to UNAIDS, women make up over 50 per cent of people living with HIV globally and roughly 60 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa.

The organisation said adolescent girls and young women, aged 15 to 24 years, are up to two to three times more likely to acquire HIV than young males of the same age.

It added that biologically, women face a roughly two-fold higher acquisition risk per unprotected heterosexual act due to larger mucosal surface area and longer exposure to seminal fluids.

It noted that many of those living with HIV do not know their status, adding that improving knowledge on HIV transmission and prevention still requires concerted effort among young persons.

It said adolescents, aged 10 to 19 years, face distinct physiological, psychological, legal and social factors that make them disproportionately vulnerable to low uptake of HIV testing, according to UNICEF.

AHF said patriarchy weighs more heavily on women and girls, and combined with poverty and limited information, it narrows their choices long before they can decide the terms of their own lives.

“A girl who cannot afford menstrual products, who has dropped out of school, or who depends on others for money, has fewer options, including options about sex. HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) thrive in exactly those conditions,” it said.

The organisation said the thinking informed the Girls Act, a global, girl-led programme of AHF built on the principle of “For Girls, By Girls”.

It said the programme began in 2016 in five countries to address high HIV rates among girls and young women and has since grown to nearly 40 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

It explained that the programme started with adolescent girls living with HIV, then expanded to include other girls and boys who are not necessarily positive, adding that status is not the emphasis.

It said its stated aims are to prevent HIV and STI transmission, support girls who are positive to stay on treatment, reduce unplanned pregnancies and keep girls in school.

“As of 2026, the programme counted more than 4,500 girls in active engagement and had distributed over one million sanitary pads,” it said.

According to AHF, Girls Act works on four connected fronts: health, education and livelihoods, leadership and results.

On health, it said girls who are positive are supported to stay on treatment, while those who are not positive learn the skills to prevent infection and make informed decisions.

It said free menstrual health products, extended to surrounding communities, meet a basic need that quietly costs many girls their dignity and their days in class.

It added that the programme also teaches girls how to make and care for reusable pads, so that access does not depend on supply alone.

On education and livelihoods, AHF said not every girl is in school, and the programme does not write off those who are not.

It said girls who want to return are supported to do so, while those who are out of school are trained in life skills and helped to set up businesses.

It said in Abuja and Benue, members have learned tie-and-dye, bead-making, tote-bag production and snack-making, from chin-chin to doughnuts and egg rolls.

“These are modest trades with steady demand, and they give young women something precious: their own income. Financial independence is among the strongest protections against the poverty that exposes girls to HIV.

“The trainings are also taken into communities, so girls who cannot easily travel are not left behind,” it said.

On leadership, the organisation said through mentorship, advocacy and resources, AHF Girls Act creates avenues for girls to aspire and to lead.

It said in South Africa, 17 Girls Act members recently completed a four-day public speaking bootcamp, and others have attended a workshop on recognising and preventing human trafficking.

It added that boys are part of the programme too, because protecting girls also means changing what young men know and expect.

On results, it said girls are turning up empowered, able to negotiate safe sex and exercise bodily autonomy.

“Negotiating safe sex is the difference between exposure and protection, and bodily autonomy is not a slogan but a public health asset.

“Ruvarashe, an AHF Girls Act member in Zimbabwe, says the support she received taught her to value herself and helped her stay in school, and she hopes other girls in her community will benefit,” it said.

AHF said the same model is spreading across Africa, noting that in South Africa, Girls Act has teamed up with the Artisan Development Academy to open Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and skilled trades to girls, and with a local bakery to run hands-on baking training for 15 adolescent girls.

It said in Uganda, it has worked with the Youth Prevention Programme on entrepreneurship training for young people in the Central region.

It said Nigeria is part of this continental network, and with the leadership academy currently being implemented by AHF Nigeria in collaboration with Education as a Vaccine (EVA), what the girls will achieve adds to the evidence that investing in girls works.

The organisation said a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) cannot carry this alone and should not have to.

It called on Federal and State Governments to domesticate the Girls Act model and fund it, building it into National and State plans for HIV, education and youth development.

According to AHF, this means dedicated budget lines for menstrual health, so no girl misses school for want of a sanitary pad; skills training and start-up support that reach out-of-school girls where they live; support for girls to return to, and stay in school; leadership platforms for girls in schools and communities; and clear pathways linking young people to HIV testing, treatment and care.

It said all stakeholders in the HIV response space have a role to play.

“Some will say the country has more pressing priorities. They should weigh the cost of inaction: new infections among young people, lifelong treatment, interrupted schooling and lost productivity.

“Prevention that also builds livelihoods and leadership is among the smartest investment a government can make.

“Our girls have shown what is possible when someone invests in them. They have earned the right to be treated as a key population in the national response, not as an afterthought.

“Government should adopt the Girls Act, fund it and scale it up, so that the next generation of Nigerian girls grows up informed, independent and free of HIV,” it said.