International financing for the fight against HIV fell nearly 20% last year, the United Nations warned on Monday (27) at the International AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro. The global response to the virus is ‘completely stalled’ following the largest funding drop in decades, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Angeli Achrekar told AFP.
‘If we do not come together as we did in the past, we will see a resurgence’ of HIV, Achrekar warned, pointing to rising new infections among the most vulnerable populations across several regions.
The United States drastically cut its international aid budget following Donald Trump’s return to the White House last year, prompting several European countries — including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom — to follow suit.
In 2025 alone, global financing for HIV prevention and treatment in low- and middle-income countries fell by 18%, according to a report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), released during the 26th International AIDS Conference.
The report further notes that, since 2011, European countries’ contributions to the HIV response have declined by 58%. The United States, by contrast, progressively expanded its share of international financing over that period. Despite the deep cuts introduced by the Trump administration, Washington still accounts for 74% of total public global funding directed at combating HIV, the report’s authors note.
Developing countries most affected by the virus — many of them located in sub-Saharan Africa — are intensifying their own efforts, Achrekar stressed. Even so, in many low-income countries, official development assistance continues to represent up to 90% of funding for national HIV strategies.
Although the number of new infections and AIDS-related deaths fell in 2025 to their lowest level in 30 years, the report flags an increase in new infections across 21 countries.
At the end of June, the UN set new targets to eliminate AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, including ensuring that 20 million people have access to antiretroviral medicines essential for preventing HIV transmission. Nevertheless, the report warns that last year nearly half of all children living with the virus did not have access to these treatments.
Although new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths fell in 2025 to their lowest level in more than 30 years, new infections increased in 21 countries.
Last week, US pharmaceutical group Merck announced it had reached agreements allowing certain manufacturers in Africa and India to sell generic versions of its monthly preventive pill, lenacapavir, which remains in clinical trials.
Separately, the non-governmental organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) called on US pharmaceutical company Gilead to make lenacapavir available in all low- and middle-income countries. The injectable treatment is considered a major breakthrough, as it only needs to be administered twice a year.
Currently, approximately 41 million people are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, though an estimated five million are unaware of their status.
Since the virus first emerged four decades ago, approximately 44.2 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses, making it one of the gravest health crises of the past half-century.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/07/28/mundo/onu-resposta-global-ao-vih-enfrenta-maior-quebra-de-financiamento-em-decadas/
