“There is no doubt this is the most serious disruption in the HIV response since the world came together to fight this disease,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS.
Every week, 3,000 young girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa contract HIV, one of the clearest signs that the world is failing to reach some of the most vulnerable populations.
“The funding cuts, combined with the reduction of civil space and the further criminalization of marginalized populations have combined to create biggest storm the HIV response has ever seen” she said.
People do not have access to treatment and the virus continues to spread, UNAIDS noted.
Big drop in global aid
Here are some key takeaways Global AIDS brief – United to end AIDS:
- Global development aid from several countries fell by 23 per cent in 2025, the steepest decline ever
- HIV programs have been hit hard, with test programs fall by 22 per cent in high-load settings between 2024 and 2025
- Funding for condoms has been cut by more than 90 per cent in some cases.
- In 2025, two more countries introduced criminalization related to same-sex sexual activity, and one country increased penalties for same-sex sexual activity in 2026
- PrEP (daily medication for HIV prevention) uptake dropped sharply decreased by 38 percent between 2024 and 2025 in 62 countries reporting to UNAIDS.
Read the full report here.
Rights rolled back as prevention, care dismantled
The report also shows a dangerous rollback of rights, with the criminalization of marginalized populations increasing for the first time since UNAIDS began tracking these trends.
In addition, HIV prevention is being phased out at the moment the world needs to take it to scale, especially with new, revolutionary, long-acting prevention innovations coming to market.
Prevention was already underfunded with only 11 percent of total HIV spending in 2024, and that limited investment is now shrinking further with no sign that domestic financing will fill the gap, according to the report.
Fragile success
The HIV response has been the greatest global health success story of the past 25 years:
- AIDS-related deaths is reduced by 56 per cent from 1.3 million in 2010 to 570,000 in 2025
- New infections have been reduced by 43 per cent since 2010 to 1.2 million
- 78 percent of the 40.9 million people living with HIV are now on treatment
But this success is fragile.
Almost nine million people are not receiving treatment.
At a time when external funding is decreasing, the treatment benefit is also extremely low.
Uneven progress due to funding cuts
A recent study of 79 community-led organizations across 47 countries and three continents (Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and Africa) found:
- 50 per cent reduction in local support services for people living with HIV
- 82 percent reduction in benefits for sex workers
- Service reductions of 85 percent for men who have sex with men.
When communities lose funding, the entire response loses reach, confidence and effectiveness, according to UNAIDS, which also reported uneven progress alongside rising infections, including in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America.
“We know how to stop AIDS,” said Ms. Byanyima.
“The question is now political: do we want to invest or do we want to withdraw?”
“We can still stop AIDS in 2030”
At the UN General Assembly’s high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS on 22 and 23 June, countries will adopt a new political declaration with a view to ending AIDS within the next five years.
The new declaration will include new 2030 targets from the Global AIDS Strategy.
Overarching goals include reaching 40 million people with antiretroviral treatment by 2030, ensuring 20 million people have access to medicines to prevent HIV, and ensuring that all people receive services without stigma and discrimination.
“If we follow the Global AIDS Strategy and UN Member States commit to adopting a strong political declaration to guide the response over the next five years, we can still end AIDS by 2030,” the UNAIDS chief said.
“However, if we fail to act, we risk reversing decades of hard-won progress.”
