Nigerians Turn to Faith Healers as HIV Aid Dries Up

A notice promoting an HIV/AIDS medicine product from Nigeria traditional healer Sarkin Lakanin Jihar Kano. When US funding cuts disrupted access to free antiretroviral therapy, some Nigerians turned to traditional healers marketing herbal ‘cures’ framed as Islamic medicine. Copyright: Photo Courtesy of Sarkin Lakanin Jihar Kano Speed read[KANO, SciDev.Net] Aisha* once relied on free antiretroviral therapy (ART) from a clinic in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, funded through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programme. The treatment kept her HIV suppressed. That changed when US President Donald Trump ordered a halt to PEPFAR funding in January 2025. “When I...