UNAIDS chief urges African health shift after aid cuts

UNAIDS chief Winnie Byanyima called for "radical change" after global aid cuts, saying African governments need to give new priority to their own health spending.

Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of an African Union health summit in Accra, Ghana, Byanyima said Africa must quickly adapt its health systems "to keep its people alive" and work toward health sovereignty. She said UNAIDS, the UN's main body on HIV and AIDS, lost about 25 percent of its total financial aid last year.

The source said the administration of US President Donald Trump dismantled the United States Agency for International Development last year, cutting funding for programmes around the world. It said other western countries, including France, Germany and the UK, have also reduced foreign assistance, affecting humanitarian organisations and disease programmes, including efforts against HIV.

Byanyima said African countries need to finance more health projects themselves, reallocate existing funds and use limited money more efficiently. She also called for local medicine production, saying Africa must move toward producing its own medicines or risk halting progress.

The source said the continent carries the world's largest HIV burden. It said 64 percent of people living with HIV worldwide are in sub-Saharan Africa, and that 60 percent of new infections last year occurred in Africa.

Byanyima also warned of a "serious pushback on human rights" for people with HIV, saying stigma and discrimination were pushing people away from testing, prevention and treatment. She said people who are "sexually different, gendered differently" face discrimination and stigma, and that transmission occurs across groups. The source said several African countries, including Ghana, have increased penalties on same-sex relations, and that only about 20 of Africa's 54 countries do not currently criminalise same-sex relations.

Byanyima pointed to new HIV treatment and prevention tools, including Lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable developed by the US pharmaceutical company Gilead that can treat and prevent HIV and is administered twice a year. A UNAIDS report said more than 6,000 people were receiving the drug across five African countries by the end of March 2026. Byanyima described that level as too low compared with need and called for 20 million people to receive the drug.

She said the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat is achievable even without a cure or vaccine because prevention tools are available. She urged Gilead to provide licences so the drug can be produced for the region. International health agency Unitaid announced earlier this year that a South African laboratory will produce a generic version of Lenacapavir. The source said studies show Lenacapavir reduces the risk of HIV transmission by 99.9 percent.