AIDS experts warn HIV fight is in ‘real danger’ after funding drops 18%

AIDS experts warned Monday that the global fight against HIV is in “real danger” after international funding for HIV programmes in developing countries fell by 18 percent in 2025.

UNAIDS released the figures as the 26th International AIDS Conference opened in Rio de Janeiro. The meeting is taking place after the United States began sharply cutting foreign aid following Donald Trump’s return to the White House last year, with European countries including France, Germany and the UK also reducing support.

“Never has donor funding fallen so far, so fast, and those most vulnerable are already paying the price,” said Beatriz Grinsztejn, president of the International AIDS Society.

UNAIDS chief Winnie Byanyima said scientific progress had transformed HIV from a once commonly fatal diagnosis into a manageable disease for millions of people. She said prevention medicines now had almost vaccine-like effectiveness, but that millions of people still lacked access.

“The end of AIDS is no longer limited by science,” Byanyima said. “It’s limited by inequality.” She warned: “When prevention disappears, infections rise. When treatment is interrupted, people die.”

The UNAIDS report said HIV funding from European countries has fallen by 58 percent since 2011. The United States still provides 74 percent of funding from donor governments, despite major US cuts, according to the report.

Developing countries with high HIV rates, many of them in sub-Saharan Africa, have increased their own spending. UNAIDS deputy executive director Angeli Achrekar told AFP that domestic HIV funding rose four percent last year and now accounts for nearly 60 percent of the total response.

Byanyima told AFP last month that the increase remained far below what is needed. The report said many low-income African countries depend on overseas development assistance for 90 percent of their HIV response.

New HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths fell to their lowest levels in more than 30 years in 2025, although infections increased in 21 countries. Experts said it was still too early to see the full impact of the funding cuts.

The UN aims to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. One target is for 20 million people to have access to antiretroviral drugs that prevent HIV transmission. The UNAIDS report warned that almost half of all children living with HIV were not receiving antiretroviral treatment last year.

Ahead of the Rio conference, Merck announced plans to allow some manufacturers in Africa and India to produce cheaper generic versions of its once-monthly antiretroviral pill alimatravir, which has not yet been approved.

Doctors Without Borders called on Gilead to make lenacapavir, a preventive drug injected twice a year, available to more countries in need. The group said countries where clinical trials were held, including Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Peru, are excluded from current deals allowing the sale of generic versions. It said research showed lenacapavir could be made for $40 per person a year, while it costs up to $28,000 per patient annually in the United States.