Nigerian HIV patients turn to faith healers as aid dries up

• HIV patients in northern Nigeria are abandoning proven antiretroviral therapy (ART) for unregulated 'Islamic medicine' after the suspension of funding from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
• Desperate patients, unable to afford treatment due to the loss of free clinic services, are falling victim to practitioners marketing fake cures, leading to severe health complications and financial ruin.

Impact of Funding Cuts

• In January 2025, the halt of PEPFAR funding caused a critical collapse in HIV care, forcing clinic closures across Nigeria, Niger, and Chad.
• Although activities partially resumed in February 2025, significant budget cuts left many services permanently shuttered. An amfAR study identified that at least 1,714 HIV service sites globally closed after funding delays.
• Nigeria, which has the fourth-largest HIV burden in the world, previously relied on PEPFAR for $7.8 billion in support, covering 1.9 million patients.

Exploitation through 'Cure' Claims

• Traditional healers, such as Yusuf Muhammad Sufi and the Kashful Aleel Islamic Medicine Centre, are charging up to $183 for advanced AIDS regimens, claiming complete cures that modern medicine cannot achieve.
• Practitioners exploit religious sentiment by citing Hadiths—sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad—to claim that all diseases have a natural cure, framing their herbal concoctions as divinely sanctioned.
• Medical experts, including Dr. Abubakar Ibrahim of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, confirm that ART does not cure HIV but works by suppressing viral load to prevent replication.

Ethical and Religious Opposition

• Islamic scholars, such as Kano-based Muhammad Mahmud Mustapha, denounce these practices as deceptive commercial exploitation strictly forbidden by religious law.
• Scholars clarify that religious texts mandating a search for cures are directed at authorized scientific researchers, not individuals seeking to market unverified remedies.
• Victims reporting failed results and worsening symptoms face the added burden of covering out-of-pocket costs for clinic administration and viral load testing, which were previously covered by the discontinued aid.