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🇹🇳 Tunisia /Health & Science

UN warns of global HIV resurgence as funding cuts cripple prevention efforts

From La Presse · () French

Translated from French, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Global efforts to eradicate HIV face a major crisis due to drastic cuts in international funding, warns UNAIDS.
  • The number of deaths in 2025 has already doubled the ideal projections, with 570,000 recorded globally.
  • Access to prevention tools like PrEP has collapsed in many countries, leading to rising infection rates in regions including North Africa.

The global fight against HIV is facing its "most dangerous storm" in history, as sharp cuts to international funding threaten decades of progress, according to UNAIDS. The agency's latest report paints a grim picture, with humanitarian outcomes for 2025 already doubling ideal projections, recording at least 570,000 deaths worldwide.

The efforts deployed globally to eradicate HIV are facing the greatest storm in their history.

— ONUSIDA (UNAIDS)Describing the current crisis in its latest report.

Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director, expressed deep concern, calling it the most dangerous crisis for the global response since the international community united against the epidemic. She attributes this setback to a combination of dwindling financial resources, repression of civil society organizations, and the persistent criminalization of vulnerable populations. Global development aid saw a historic 23% drop last year, severely impacting prevention programs, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, which heavily relies on foreign funds.

This is the most dangerous crisis for the global response since the international community united against this scourge.

— Winnie ByanyimaSpeaking to The Independent about the current situation.

On-the-ground indicators are alarming. In sub-Saharan Africa, women and young girls continue to be disproportionately affected, with 3,000 new infections weekly. Worryingly, infection curves are also rising in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. This resurgence is linked to restricted access to modern protection tools. Between 2024 and 2025, the use of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a daily treatment effective against the virus, plummeted by 40% in 62 monitored countries. In critical areas, budgets for basic protection devices have shrunk by 90%.

If we stand idly by, the virus will regain ground, the number of sick people will explode and mortality will soar.

— Winnie ByanyimaExhorting world leaders to take action.

Byanyima urged world leaders to act decisively. "If we stand idly by, the virus will regain ground, the number of sick people will explode, and mortality will soar," she warned. Despite the current challenges, she stressed that eradicating AIDS by 2030 remains technically possible, with the primary obstacle being political will.

Eradicating AIDS by 2030 remains technically possible. The only current obstacle is political.

— Winnie ByanyimaConcluding her remarks on the path forward.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Presse in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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