Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has declared that the world can still end the scourge of HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, despite the challenges and funding gaps.
Executive Director of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima, emphasized the need for urgency, unity, and commitment to achieve this goal.
Urgency, unity, and commitment
“Together, we can still end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, if we act with urgency, unity, and unwavering commitment,” Byanyima said in the 2025 Global AIDS Update.
She stressed that despite the grim landscape, “there is still time to transform this crisis into an opportunity.”
Progress and Challenges
Byanyima noted that seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa had achieved the 95-95-95 targets, meaning 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95% of those are on treatment, and 95% of those on treatment are virally suppressed.
However, she warned that funding gaps and disruptions to HIV prevention programs and treatment services are threatening to unravel decades of progress.
Funding gap a ticking time bomb
Byanyima described the funding gap as “a ticking time bomb,” warning that if US-supported HIV treatment and prevention services collapse entirely, an additional six million new HIV infections and four million additional AIDS-related deaths could occur between 2025 and 2029.
*Growing National Leadership*
Despite the challenges, UNAIDS praised many countries that have shown remarkable resilience and determination to keep progress alive.
The 2025 Global AIDS Update noted that 25 low and middle-income countries surveyed have signaled plans to increase domestic HIV budgets in 2026, a clear sign of growing national leadership and commitment to the response.
*A Call to Action*
Byanyima emphasized the need for countries and communities to step up and protect treatment gains.
“In a time of crisis, the world must choose transformation over retreat,” she said.
The world needs to radically rethink how it funds and delivers HIV services to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
