- Says world losing control on spread of AIDS
A new report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has warned that more than 3,000 adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa are contracting HIV every week, raising fresh concerns that decades of progress in the global fight against AIDS could be undermined by declining funding, weakening prevention programmes and growing inequalities.
Daily Champion reports that the document released ahead of the upcoming United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS paints a troubling picture of a global response at a critical crossroads and underscores the challenges world leaders must confront if the target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is to be achieved.
According to UNAIDS, approximately 3,000 adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa acquire HIV every week, making them one of the populations most heavily affected by the epidemic despite years of investment in prevention and treatment programmes.
The report noted that while the global HIV response has long been regarded as one of public health’s greatest success stories, the conditions that enabled the progress are increasingly under strain.
UNAIDS stated that sustained international investments, expanded access to antiretroviral therapy, community-led interventions and extensive advocacy efforts helped transform HIV from what was once considered a near-certain death sentence into a manageable chronic condition for millions of people around the world.
Those efforts, the agency said, contributed to sharp declines in AIDS-related deaths and significant reductions in new infections across many countries, particularly in Africa, where the disease had devastated communities and weakened social and economic structures for decades.
However, the report warned that a combination of shrinking international assistance, declining support for prevention services, restrictions affecting vulnerable populations and persistent social inequalities now threatens to reverse many of those gains.
According to UNAIDS, international development assistance fell by 23 per cent in 2025, representing the sharpest decline on record. The agency said HIV programmes have been among the sectors most affected by the cuts, with testing services in high-burden countries declining by 22 per cent between 2024 and 2025.
The report further revealed that funding for condoms, one of the most widely used and cost-effective HIV prevention tools, has in some cases fallen by more than 90 per cent.
UNAIDS noted that the funding reductions come at a time when prevention efforts were already receiving a relatively small share of global HIV resources. The agency reported that prevention accounted for only 11 per cent of total HIV spending globally in 2024, raising concerns that further reductions could lead to rising infection rates after years of steady decline.
The report also highlighted a significant drop in the uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a medication used to prevent HIV infection. According to UNAIDS, PrEP use declined by 38 per cent between 2024 and 2025 across 62 countries that reported data to the agency.
The report identified adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa as remaining at the centre of the epidemic because of a combination of poverty, gender inequality, limited access to healthcare, economic vulnerability and social disadvantages that continue to increase their risk of infection.
Beyond financial pressures, UNAIDS said the global HIV response is also facing challenges arising from changes in political and legal environments.
According to the report, criminalisation of marginalised populations increased for the first time since the agency began tracking such trends. UNAIDS reported that two countries introduced laws criminalising same-sex sexual activity in 2025, while another country strengthened penalties in 2026.
The agency warned that such developments can discourage vulnerable populations from seeking healthcare, accessing testing services or participating in prevention programmes due to fears of discrimination, stigma or legal consequences.
The report also pointed to the weakening of community-led HIV services, which have traditionally played a critical role in prevention, treatment support and public awareness.
Citing a recent study covering 79 community organisations across Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, UNAIDS reported that support services for people living with HIV declined by 50 per cent. Services targeting sex workers dropped by 82 per cent, while programmes serving men who have sex with men declined by 85 per cent.
Despite the challenges, the report highlighted the significant achievements recorded over the past 15 years.
According to UNAIDS, AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 56 per cent since 2010, declining from 1.3 million annually to about 570,000 in 2025. New HIV infections have dropped by 43 per cent over the same period, while nearly 78 per cent of the estimated 40.9 million people living with HIV worldwide are now receiving life-saving treatment.
However, the agency warned that those gains remain fragile, noting that nearly nine million people living with HIV still do not have access to treatment.
The report further noted that concerns about rising infections are no longer confined to Africa, with increasing HIV transmission also being recorded in parts of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America.
UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, said the world already possesses the tools needed to end AIDS as a public health threat, including effective treatments, preventive medicines and emerging long-acting prevention technologies.
According to the report, the challenge lies in whether governments and development partners are willing to sustain the political and financial commitments necessary to ensure those tools reach the people who need them most.
The findings are expected to shape discussions at the forthcoming United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, where member states will consider a new political declaration designed to accelerate progress toward ending AIDS by 2030.
UNAIDS said the proposed targets include expanding antiretroviral treatment coverage to 40 million people, increasing access to preventive medicines for 20 million individuals and ensuring that HIV services are delivered free from stigma, discrimination and legal barriers.
The agency stressed that the decisions taken by governments at the meeting could determine whether the world remains on course to end AIDS within this decade or faces the prospect of renewed momentum for an epidemic that has claimed millions of lives over the past four decades.
According to the report, the warning signs are already evident. The upcoming United Nations High-Level Meeting, it noted, will therefore serve as a critical platform for mobilizing the political commitment, policy reforms and financial resources required to protect past gains and move the world closer to the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
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