HIV prevention and treatment services faltering, warns UNAIDS

Decades of gains in the fight against AIDS are under growing threat as donor funding declines and community-based health services collapse in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries, the head of the Joint UN programme on HIV/AIDS warned on Thursday. The sudden funding decli

ne is hitting the HIV response “like a shock wave,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, adding that “the world is pulling back just when we need to push forward.” Many countries are unprepared to sustain programmes previously supported by international funding, Ms. Byanyima told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, noting that prevention and support services are already collapsing in several countries. Today, 9.3 million people living with HIV are still waiting to begin treatment, while there were 1.3 million new infections worldwide in 2024. Ms. Byanyima warned that the funding crisis is having “real consequences” across developing countries as treatment expansion stalls and community organizations – often the backbone of the HIV response – are forced to scale back or close entirely. In Uganda, uptake of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), which can reduce the risk of