AHF Nigeria celebrates international condom day

A global non-profit organisation providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria has invited communities to celebrate International Condom Day (ICD) with the simple message – “Just Use It!” – and put condoms, one of the most powerful and cost-effective tools in HIV and STI prevention, back in the spotlight.

In a statement, it said: “This year’s ICD celebration is taking place in Akwa, Anambra state and at 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 s3xual health should be accessible, stigma-free, and empowering for everyone.

“The surge in STI rates worldwide, particularly syphilis, is not a mystery—it is what happens when global funding diminishes and condoms are not prioritized for prevention. Without an immediate course correction, HIV will soon follow.

“Each condom used helps safeguard decades of progress in the global HIV response and avoids far more costly setbacks. 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’s ICD event 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.

“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 Martin Matabishi, AHF Africa Bureau Chief.

“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.”

‘’We’re reminding everyone that using condoms is the best way and most cost-effective method to prevent HIV, other STIs, and unplanned pregnancies” said Dr. Echey Ijezie, AHF Nigeria Country Program Director (CPD).

“Launched by AIDS Healthcare Foundation in 2009, International Condom Day (Feb. 13) celebrates condoms as the world’s best option for preventing HIV, other STIs, and unplanned pregnancies. ICD reminds us that condoms are safer, s3xy, and must be kept at the center of protecting s3xual health worldwide: “Just Use It!”

“Visit LOVEcondoms.org to learn more and check out AHF’s recent Global Public Health Revolution podcast episode “Safer Is S3xy: Condoms & Creative Health Campaigns” for a conversation all about condoms—their role in saving lives, breaking taboos, and shaping public health campaigns worldwide.”

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