UNAIDS warns of possible HIV resurgence as global funding drops 18pc

WEB DESK: The world has been facing the risk of a renewed HIV epidemic as international funding for the fight against AIDS declined by nearly 18 per cent last year, UNAIDS warned on Monday.

The UN agency said reduced financial support could undermine progress made in controlling HIV infections worldwide. The United States had previously contributed around 75 per cent of global international HIV funding before President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

Shortly after taking office, Trump ordered a temporary suspension of HIV-related funding, though life-saving programmes were restored days later. However, UNAIDS said many prevention initiatives have since been scaled back, raising concerns over future efforts to contain the disease.

“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 18 per cent 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 6 per cent 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 50 per cent 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.