The global fight against HIV/AIDS has reached a critical juncture, with the United Nations warning that deep funding cuts and increasing threats to human rights could undermine decades of progress and jeopardise efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
The warning was issued on Monday as world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, where governments are expected to adopt a new Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS to guide the global response over the next five years. The declaration is regarded as the final major international commitment ahead of the 2030 deadline set under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Addressing delegates, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Winnie Byanyima, described the meeting as a decisive opportunity to reinvigorate global efforts against the epidemic.
“This Political Declaration is our chance to build on 25 years of commitment and point the way to 2030 to show that multilateralism can deliver,” Byanyima said. “We cannot fail because we know what we must do: sustain financing, protect the rights of people living with HIV, empower communities and ensure innovations reach everyone in need.”
The concerns come despite significant achievements recorded in recent years. New UNAIDS data released ahead of the meeting showed that AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 56 per cent since 2010, while new HIV infections have declined by 43 per cent globally. More than 32 million people living with HIV are currently receiving life-saving antiretroviral treatment.
The global HIV response is widely regarded as one of the most successful examples of international cooperation in public health. Since the first UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS in 2001, governments, civil society organisations, scientists and development partners have mobilised unprecedented resources to combat a disease that once claimed millions of lives annually, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa.
International interventions, including the establishment of the Global Fund and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), dramatically expanded access to treatment and contributed to substantial reductions in HIV-related deaths in low- and middle-income countries.
However, UNAIDS warned that these gains are increasingly at risk. Nearly nine million people living with HIV remain without access to treatment, while global development assistance for health declined by 23 per cent in 2025—the steepest reduction ever recorded.
According to the agency, funding cuts are already affecting HIV testing, prevention programmes and access to essential medical supplies. In several high-burden countries, HIV testing rates dropped by 22 per cent between 2024 and 2025, while funding for condom procurement was reduced by more than 90 per cent.
Speaking on behalf of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed urged governments to renew their commitment to the global response.
“This meeting is a chance to demonstrate that, even in difficult times, the international community can rally once again around science, human dignity, solidarity and shared responsibility,” she said.
Public health experts have cautioned that interruptions in treatment services could lead to a resurgence of HIV infections and preventable deaths, particularly among vulnerable populations.
The challenge is compounded by increasing discrimination and criminalisation targeting groups considered at higher risk of HIV infection, including young women and girls, men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who inject drugs.
Keren Dunaway of the International Community of Women Living with HIV warned that many of the rights-based protections that contributed to progress against the epidemic are now under threat.
“These gains were not handed to us. They were won through decades of advocacy,” Dunaway said. “The future of the response will depend on the choices we make in this room.”
Despite the challenges, UNAIDS maintains that the goal of ending AIDS remains achievable. The agency noted that domestic financing now accounts for more than half of global HIV funding, while scientific advances—including long-acting HIV prevention medicines—offer new opportunities to accelerate progress.
AIDS advocate Sandra Thurman called on world leaders to maintain momentum and avoid retreating from commitments at a crucial stage in the global response.
“The world has come too far. The stakes are too high. And the opportunity is too great. Now is not the time to quit. It is time to finish the job,” she said.
For Africa, which continues to bear the largest share of the global HIV burden, the outcomes of the New York meeting are expected to have far-reaching implications. Health experts warn that without sustained investment, political commitment and protection of human rights, decades of progress could be reversed, placing the goal of ending AIDS by 2030 beyond reach.
