May 12, 2025

Inside 6222: Nigeria’s toll-free HIV/AIDS line

HIV counselling and testing outreach at a school

Dial 6222 on Airtel, MTN, or 9mobile, anywhere in Nigeria, and you reach a counsellor. It is free, it is confidential, and it is available in Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Pidgin, and English.

The National Call Centre on HIV/AIDS and Related Diseases is a public-private partnership PPSDI manages on behalf of NACA from Lagos House in Abuja. Beyond counselling, the team handles treatment-literacy and adherence questions, PMTCT mentor-mother support, and referrals for testing, ARVs, and post-exposure prophylaxis. It is one of the clearest examples of what happens when government, telecoms, and civil society pull in the same direction.