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STORY: UN / UNAIDS REPORT
TRT: 04:22
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 12 JUNE 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN Headquarters
12 JUNE 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, speakers, journalists, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Angeli Achrekar, Assistant Secretary-General, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“We're truly at a perilous moment. Decades of progress in the AIDS response are at risk just when we should be getting to the finish line. For the first time, there is a real possibility of reversal. Yes, HIV infections and AIDS deaths are at their lowest in over 30 years, but we're still far off track to end AIDS by 2030. There were 1.2 million new HIV infections at the end of 2025, 43 percent lower than 2010 but nowhere close to the target of 370,000 by 2025.”
4. Wide shot, speakers, journalists, press room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Angeli Achrekar, Assistant Secretary-General, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“Progress is also highly uneven. Some regions are improving, while others are seeing spikes in new HIV infections, and every week, 3000 adolescent girls and young women in Sub-Saharan Africa are newly infected with HIV. This is one of the clearest signs that we are failing to reach some of the most vulnerable populations. Also, AIDS deaths have fallen to 570,000 - again, nowhere close to the target of 250,000 by 2025.”
6. Wide shot, speakers, journalists, press room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Angeli Achrekar, Assistant Secretary-General, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“There is a funding crisis, which is a core threat to the HIV response. Dramatic cuts in aid in highly burdened low-income countries depend on for their HIV response have had a devastating impact. Global development assistance from multiple countries fell by over 20 percent in 2020 - the sharpest drop on record - and HIV programs have been hit hard. And while we're seeing increases in domestic resources in the HIV response, it's not enough.”
8. Wide shot, speakers, journalists, press room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Angeli Achrekar, Assistant Secretary-General, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“HIV prevention is being dismantled at the very moment we need to take it to scale, especially with new prevention innovations that are coming on the market, such as long-acting HIV prevention.”
10. Wide shot, speakers, journalists, press room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Angeli Achrekar, Assistant Secretary-General, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“32.1 million people are now living on life-saving treatment - 78 percent of all people living with HIV. This is a great public health achievement, a success story, but even this success is fragile. Some regions are heavily reliant on external financing for treatment programs.”
12. Wide shot, speakers, journalists, press room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Angeli Achrekar, Assistant Secretary-General, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“Without sustained financing and increased domestic financing, we risk treatment interruptions, and what this means is rising deaths and rising new infections, and let's be clear: there are still 8.8 million - nearly 9 million people - living with HIV that do not have access to that life-saving treatment.”
14. Wide shot, speakers, journalists, press room
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Angeli Achrekar, Assistant Secretary-General, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“And all of this is happening while there is an intense pushback on human rights and democratic rights. Diseases spread fastest when human rights are weakest. We're seeing a dangerous rollback on rights around the world, more stigma and discrimination, shrinking civic space. This all hinders progress in the HIV response. Criminalization of key populations is increasing for the first time since UNAIDS began tracking these trends.”
16. Wide shot, speakers, journalists, press room
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Angeli Achrekar, Assistant Secretary-General, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“Ending AIDS requires shared responsibility, national leadership, and global solidarity. We do know how to end AIDS, but the question now is political: Will we invest or will we retreat?”
18. Wide shot, speakers, journalists, press room
A “perilous moment” for the response to HIV, warned UNAIDS.
Angeli Achrekar, the Assistant Secretary-General of UNAIDS addressed the press about a new UNAIDS report, release today (12 Jun) with latest data on HIV from 2025.
The report shows that external funding cuts, a strong push back on human rights and under investment and under prioritization of HIV prevention and community services are threatening to reverse years of gains in the AIDS response.
Dramatic cuts in aid that highly burdened, low-income countries depend on for their HIV response have had a devastating impact. Global development assistance from multiple countries fell by 23 percent in 2025 - the sharpest drop on record - and HIV programmes have been hit hard.
HIV testing programmes fell by 22 percent in high-burden settings between 2024 and 2025. Meaning people are unable to access treatment and the virus continuing to spread. Funding for condoms has been cut by more than 90 percent in some cases.
PrEP (daily medicine to prevent HIV) uptake dropped sharply falling by 38 percent between 2024 and 2025 in 62 countries reporting to UNAIDS.
HIV prevention is being dismantled at the very moment the world needs to take it to scale, especially with new, revolutionary, long-acting prevention innovations coming to market.
Prevention was already underfunded at just 11 percent of total HIV spending in 2024—and that limited investment is now shrinking further with no signs that domestic funding will fill the gap.
The HIV response has been the most successful story in global health over the last 25 years, AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 56 percent from 1.3 million in 2010 to 570 000 in 2025.
New infections have been reduced by 43 percent since 2010 to 1.2 million, and 78 percent of the 40.9 million people living with HIV are now on treatment (32.1 million).
But this success is fragile—nearly 9 million people are not on treatment. At a time when external funding is reducing, treatment gains are extremely fragile. Western and central Africa, for example, is around 90 percent dependent on external funding for its HIV treatment programmes.
Without sustained external financing and increased domestic resources, there is a serious risk of treatment interruptions—which will mean rising deaths and rising new infections.
Progress remains highly uneven—some regions are improving, while others are seeing rising infections (eastern Europe and central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa and Latin America have seen rising new HIV infections since 2010).
And every week, 3000 adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa acquire HIV—this is one of the clearest signs the world is failing to reach some of the most vulnerable populations.
Community-led organizations, civil society, organizations led by people living with HIV, young people, sex worker organizations for example, are the most effective in delivering services to people living with and affected by HIV, yet they are not prioritized and are being pushed to the brink.
They are on the front line to deliver HIV prevention, treatment and support services to up to 60 percent of their own communities including, men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs and their sexual partners, yet funding has been drastically cut and there are no apparent increases from domestic resources.
A recent community-led study of 79 community-led organizations across 47 countries and three continents (Asia Pacific, Latin America and Africa) showed a 50 percent drop in community support services for people living with HIV, an 82 percent reduction in services for sex workers and service reductions of 85 percent for men who have sex with men.
Support services for survivors of gender-based violence are also declining. When communities lose funding, the entire response loses reach, trust and effectiveness.
The report also shows a dangerous rollback of rights.
Criminalization of marginalized populations is increasing for the first time since UNAIDS began tracking these trends.
In 2025, two additional countries introduced criminalization related to same-sex sexual activity, and one country increased penalties for same-sex sexual activity in 2026.
When people fear arrest or discrimination, they do not test, they do not seek care—allowing the epidemic to continue to grow.
However, the report shows that there are windows of opportunity.
The share of domestic resources for the HIV response increased from 28 percent in 2010 to 52 percent in 2024.
Since January 2025, more than 54 countries have committed to increasing domestic financing. However, many countries are facing spiraling debt crises—28 African countries spend more on debt than on health.
UNAIDS welcomes new donor commitments, for example from the US and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, which offer an opportunity to work with countries on domestic co-investment and planned transitions.
Integration of HIV also has potential for promising results.
A quarter of 152 countries have integrated HIV into broader health strategies. For example, cervical cancer services have been included in national HIV guidelines in more than 80 countries.
Innovation can further drive gains. By the end of March 2026, more than 6000 people were accessing the long-acting prevention medicine lenacapavir across five sub-Saharan African countries however, more effort is needed to reach the 20 million people UNAIDS estimates are in need of antiretroviral prevention medicines.
In the coming days (22-23 June) the United Nations General Assembly will convene a High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS where countries will come together to adopt a new Political Declaration on HIV.
This will be the final Political Declaration before the 2030 deadline to end AIDS as a public health threat.
The new Political Declaration will include new 2030 targets from the Global AIDS Strategy.
Overarching targets include reaching 40 million people with antiretroviral treatment by 2030, ensuring 20 million people have access to medicine to prevent HIV and ensuring that all people receive services free of stigma and discrimination.
The 2030 goals remain achievable.
Reaching 2030 targets could avert 3.2 million additional new infections.
This requires continued unity and commitment, with countries in the lead, backed by global partners with communities at the centre.
