World risks HIV resurgence as funding falls 18pc, UNAIDS says

The world risks a resurgence of ‌the HIV epidemic after global funding fell by nearly a fifth last year, the UN body fighting AIDS said on Monday.

Washington previously accounted for 75 per cent of international HIV funding before President Donald Trump’s return to the White ​House in January 2025. That month, he ordered a temporary halt to all HIV-related ​funding before restoring life-saving HIV work days later, although most prevention efforts were curtailed.

“The ⁠international community has entered a period of profound political and financial upheaval that threatens decades ​of hard-won gains against HIV,“ UNAIDS said in its 60-page report released at the start of ​an International AIDS conference in Brazil. “Without renewed commitment and action, the world risks a resurgence of the HIV epidemic.”

Funding fell by 18pc to $7.3 billion in 2025, which was the lowest level in nearly two decades, the ​report said. That risks reversing progress that has driven down new HIV infections and AIDS-related ​deaths to their lowest level in more than 30 years, it said.

“The current fragility of the HIV response ‌puts these ⁠gains at risk unless global solidarity is restored and inequalities are addressed.”

The report also repeated that the global goal to end AIDS by 2030 was off track, saying that reduced funding as well as other crises like Ebola were hampering efforts. Some 1.2 million people caught HIV last ​year.

The impact of foreign ​funding cuts for HIV ⁠was partially offset, however, by increases in domestic spending. That meant an overall decline of 6pc in total HIV resources last year, the ​UNAIDS report said.

But not all governments were able to step in. Some ​of the ⁠biggest declines in spending on prevention programmes were in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for about half of new global infections.

National data for Cameroon, Nigeria and Zambia showed more than a 50pc decline in ⁠the number ​of people receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.

“HIV funding disruptions ​severely impacted HIV prevention, testing and key components of treatment programmes, such as the range of community-led services that reach ​the people most affected by HIV,” the report said.