UNAIDS urges global unity in World AIDS Day call to action

As the world marks World AIDS Day, UNAIDS is urging global leaders to take urgent action.

The agency calls for renewed global solidarity and continued international support, especially for countries most in need. With domestic funding unable to fill the gap alone, ongoing global aid is vital.

The global response to HIV has suffered its most significant setback in decades, warns a new UNAIDS report released in November.

UNAIDS is pushing for more investment in innovative, affordable HIV prevention and treatment, specifically highlighting fast roll-out of medicines like lenacapavir to reach 20 million people and reducing costs by enabling more companies to produce at scale.

Today, 40.8 million people are living with HIV worldwide, 1.3 million new infections occurred in 2024, and 9.2 million people are still not accessing treatment.

Abrupt reductions in international HIV assistance in 2025 have deepened existing funding shortfalls, according to the UNAIDS.

Over 60% of all women-led HIV organizations have lost funding or been forced to suspend work.

Other HIV prevention services have been hit hard too. The number of people using PrEP—HIV prevention medicines—has fallen by 64% in Burundi, 31% in Uganda and 21% in Viet Nam.

‘Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response’ details the far-reaching consequences of international funding reductions and lack of global solidarity which sent shockwaves through low- and middle-income countries heavily affected by HIV.

The OECD estimates that external health assistance is projected to drop by 30–40 percent in 2025 compared with 2023, causing immediate and even more severe disruption to health services in low- and middle-income countries.

A failure to reach the 2030 global HIV targets of the next Global AIDS Strategy could result in an additional 3.3 million new HIV infec tions between 2025 and 2030.