UNAIDS Declares the “Most Severe Crisis” in the Fight Against HIV

June 12, 2026 Health injury

“Without a doubt, this is the most serious crisis in the fight against HIV since the world united efforts to combat this disease,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Budget cuts combined with the shrinking civic space and further criminalization of marginalized groups have caused the strongest storm our movement has ever faced.”

Reduction of financing and its consequences

A sharp cut in aid, on which the poorest countries with a high prevalence of HIV depend, has led to devastating consequences. In 2025, the volumes of international development aid from a number of countries fell immediately by 23% – this is the sharpest decline in history.

This immediately seemed to concern the situation on the ground. In a region with an unfavorable epidemiological situation, HIV testing indicators in the period from 2024 to 2025 decreased by 22 percent. As a result, people cannot find out about their status in a timely manner and start treatment, while the virus continues to spread.

In some cases, funding for condom purchases was cut by more than 90 percent. The volumes of applying DAP (daily oral prophylaxis – daily intake of medicines to protect against infection) plummeted: in 62 countries reporting to UNAIDS, this indicator fell by 38 percent.

Prevention programs are curtailed precisely when the world needs to scale them up, especially against the backdrop of the emergence of revolutionary innovative long-acting drugs on the market, note UNAIDS.

Successes and the last 25 years

Over the past 25 years, the fight against HIV has become one of the most successful chapters in the history of global health: mortality from AIDS-related causes has decreased by 56% – from 1.3 million deaths in 2010 to 570 thousand in 2025.

The number of new infection cases decreased by 43 percent—to 1.2 million in 2025. Out of 40.9 million people living with HIV, 78 percent (more than 32 million) today receive antiretroviral therapy.

However, almost 9 million people still remain untreated. HIV therapy programs in Western and Central Africa depend on foreign donors for approximately 90 percent. Without stable external funding and an increase in domestic expenditures of countries, there is a serious risk of interruptions in therapy, which will inevitably lead to a surge in mortality and infections.

Progress is uneven

Progress remains extremely uneven. While some regions show improvements, in others the indicators are rising: since 2010, the number of new HIV infection cases has been recorded to increase in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, as well as in Latin America.

In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the largest share of new infection cases (25 percent) is among men and women who use injectable drugs.

In a country in Sub-Saharan Africa, every week three thousand teenage girls and young women become infected with the virus. This is evidence that the world has failed to protect the most vulnerable population groups.

Role of Civil Society Organizations

Organizations run by local community forces and civil society (including associations of people living with HIV, youth unions, and sex worker organizations) have demonstrated their maximum efficiency in targeted assistance.

They operate at the forefront, providing prevention, treatment, and support to up to 60 percent of members of their communities — including men who have sex with men, sex workers, injection drug users, and their partners.

However, these organizations faced a sharp budget cut. A recent study, involving 79 such organizations in 47 countries across three continents (in the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America, and Africa), showed a catastrophic picture: the volume of services supporting people living with HIV was reduced by 50 percent; by 85 percent for men who have sex with men; and programs aiding sex workers were cut by 82 percent.

Criminalization of same-sex relationships

The report also notes a dangerous rollback in the field of human rights. The criminalization of marginalized population groups has intensified for the first time since the UNHCR began monitoring these trends.

In 2025, two more countries introduced criminal liability for homosexual relations, and in 2026, one state already toughened the punishment for them.

When people are afraid of arrest or discrimination, they do not get tested and do not seek medical help, which allows the epidemic to develop unhindered.

“Diseases spread fastest where human rights are weakest,” emphasized Byanyima.

Positive trends

Nevertheless, the report indicates positive trends. The share of countries’ own funds in the total volume of financing measures against HIV has increased from 28 percent in 2010 to 52 percent in 2024. From January 2025, more than 54 countries have committed to increasing domestic financing. Among them are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The UN AIDS welcomes new financial commitments from donors (in particular, the USA and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria), which allow building a system of joint investment with countries and planning the transition to self-financing.

Good results are also observed in the sphere of integration of medical services. About a quarter of countries have already included measures to combat HIV in their general health strategies. Diagnostic and treatment services for cervical cancer have been included in the national HIV management protocols in more than 80 countries.

Experts emphasize: the goals for combating HIV by 2030 are still achievable. “We know perfectly well how to stop AIDS. Now the issue has moved to the political level: will we invest resources or will we retreat?” said Byanima.

“If we show indecisiveness now, we risk losing everything that we have so painstakingly won over decades,” he added.