The world risks a resurgence of the HIV epidemic after international funding fell by nearly a fifth last year, according to a new report from UNAIDS, which warned that decades of progress against the disease could be reversed without renewed global support.
Released on Monday (27 July) at the start of the International AIDS Conference in Brazil, the report said international HIV funding dropped 18% to $7.3 billion in 2025, its lowest level in almost two decades.
"The international community has entered a period of profound political and financial upheaval that threatens decades of hard-won gains against HIV," the report said.
"Without renewed commitment and action, the world risks a resurgence of the HIV epidemic."
UNAIDS warned that the funding shortfall could reverse gains that have reduced new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths to their lowest levels in more than 30 years.
The agency also reiterated that the global target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 remains off track.
The United States had previously provided around 75% of international HIV funding before President Donald Trump's return to office in January 2025.
Soon after taking office, Trump ordered a temporary suspension of all U.S.-funded HIV programmes. While funding for life-saving treatment was later restored, many prevention programmes remained curtailed.
UNAIDS said the disruption had contributed to the decline in global funding, although increased domestic spending by some countries helped limit the overall reduction in total HIV resources to 6% last year.
The report said not all governments were able to compensate for the loss of international support, with some of the largest declines recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for roughly half of all new HIV infections worldwide.
National data from Cameroon, Nigeria and Zambia showed that the number of people receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a medicine that helps prevent HIV infection, fell by more than 50%.
"HIV funding disruptions severely impacted HIV prevention, testing and key components of treatment programmes," the report said, adding that community-led services reaching the most vulnerable populations had also been affected.
An estimated 1.2 million people acquired HIV globally last year, according to UNAIDS.
France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday that 70,000 security forces would be mobilised th...
Greece’s parliament has passed a bill banning under-15s from using social media from 1 January 2027, as the country steps up efforts to prote...
Israel has ordered security forces to seal off Hebron and prepare a full closure of the West Bank after a shooting near the city wounded at le...
Saudi Aramco has ordered staff to evacuate its headquarters amid escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Two people were killed in an attack on Dammam airport, while Iran's IRGC Navy claimed strikes on seven vessels and warned the U.S. of a wider response.
Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Russia is willing in principle to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the United States in November, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said after President Vladimir Putin met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
Super typhoon Champi is set to batter Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture from Friday (23 October), bringing violent winds, torrential rain and waves up to 11 metres high, as airlines cancel flights and organisers scrap a major festival.
If you tried to visit a government website in Europe on Wednesday and found it down, you weren’t alone. Agencies across the continent pulled their sites offline after serious security flaws were discovered in PHP, the programming language quietly running behind most of the world’s websites.
Visitors to Armenia could face temperature screening after a lab worker died from suspected Pneumonic plague in Russia, Yerevan’s Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan told lawmakers on Wednesday, Armenian state news agency Armenpress reported.
Health advice now reaches people through social media, fitness apps, wearable technology and AI. From detoxes and protein-focused diets to skincare and fitness trends, online wellness content is shaping everyday health choices while raising concerns about misinformation and potential risks.
Global cholera deaths reached their highest annual level in more than 20 years in 2025, despite a decline in reported cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Chinese researchers have developed the world’s smallest CT scanner, a portable device designed to produce images of tiny fossils and archaeological relics.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 17 September 2026. These are the top five stories making headlines in the field of health.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment