SHOPS Plus

Graphic that shows that more than 50% of Nigerians access health care from private providers. — **Private providers are a key partner in the fight against HIV/AIDS.**

A new suite of resources shows the value of market segmentation to strengthen and sustain the HIV response in Nigeria. The suite includes a brief on the approach and three videos that illustrate how the approach works.

Nigeria’s private sector currently delivers approximately half of non-HIV health services in the country. However, private provision of HIV services is low, especially for care and treatment. While approximately two-thirds of private providers in Lagos offer HIV counseling and testing services, only 10 percent offer full adult ART. As the graph (below, right) shows, there are a lot of people living in these states that are not on ART. The private sector could address a large share of the unmet ART need if they offered the full range of HIV services.

SHOPS Plus supports USAID’s Sustainable Financing Initiative to develop a strategy to scale up use of HIV services in Rivers and Lagos states through the private sector. The project recently completed an assessment that looked at the overall health system in each state, as well as the specific market for HIV services. As part of this analysis, SHOPS Plus identified three factors that shape how people living with HIV interact with the health system. These key factors interact to create seven distinct groups that have specific needs and preferences when it comes to seeking HIV care and treatment services.

Barch chart showing that a large majority of people living with HIV in Lagos and River states are not on ART. — **The private sector could address a large share of the unmet ART need if they offered the full range of HIV services.**

Working in consultation with local stakeholders, SHOPS Plus identified priority segments for the private sector. Increasing the number of private providers who deliver the full range of HIV services or improving the reach of and access to private providers who already offer these services through targeted interventions can help create stronger linkages to care for people living with HIV in these segments.

As part of its consultations with state officials, civil society representatives, donors, and private providers, SHOPS Plus identified what steps were needed to encourage an expanded private delivery of HIV services. Priority recommendations focused on increasing access to clinical training and supportive supervision for private providers, strengthening financing mechanisms to cover the costs of care in the private sector, and raising awareness among clients about their ability to access HIV products and services at a private outlet.

To highlight this work and the importance of using market segmentation to design tailored interventions, SHOPS Plus created a series of videos. The first video below describes what market segmentation is and how it can help inform HIV programming. The second video gives an overview of market segmentation. A third video describes how SHOPS Plus applied market segmentation to identify priority segments of HIV clients and to design appropriate responses.