World in ‘dangerous moment’, leaders warn, at risk from rising HIV infections

in High-level meeting on HIV/AIDSHeld every five years since 2001, speakers called on governments to recommit to eliminating AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and adopt a new political declaration to guide the global response over the next five years.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General Amina Mohammed It reflected the extraordinary progress achieved through decades of global cooperation.

“In the 45 years since the first AIDS case was reported, the world has shown extraordinary resolve and solidarity,” she said. saidI speak on behalf of Secretary General Antonio Guterres,

This effort has reduced AIDS-related deaths by 70% since their peak in 2004 and provided more than 32 million life-saving antiretroviral treatments worldwide.

progress under pressure

But Mr Mohammed warned that progress remained uneven and fragile. By the end of 2024, 9.2 million people still lack access to HIV treatment, Meanwhile, 1.3 million people were infected with HIV and 630,000 died from AIDS-related causes..

“Funding cuts have a direct impact on prevention efforts and community systems that are critical to the response,” she said.

The Deputy Secretary-General called for new action across five priority areas: expanding access to prevention and treatment, strengthening community leadership, protecting human rights, increasing financing, and reviving international cooperation.

“Human rights and equality must continue to guide our response,” she said, warning: Prejudice, discrimination and shrinking civic space continue to put lives at risk.

the virus continues to spread

After giving his opening remarks, he said: UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima provided an assessment of the current state of the HIV response.

“According to the OECD, development finance will decline by 23% in 2025, the largest decline on record,” she said.

She warned that HIV programs in high-burden, low-income countries are particularly affected.

“The latest UNAIDS data released last week showed vulnerabilities,” she said. “HIV testing is down 22% in high-stress settings, meaning people don’t know their status and the virus continues to spread.”

Responses exposed to risk

She added that condom funding had been cut by more than 90 percent in some regions.

“Prevention is being dismantled at the very moment when we should be scaling up innovations like new long-acting drugs.”

Despite the setbacks, Byanyima insisted that eradicating AIDS remains achievable.

“Research may still lead to a cure. It is possible to eradicate AIDS. Still, we encounter moments of danger;“Multilateralism is at its weakest in a generation, while threats threaten to reverse all our gains,” she said.

Listen to an interview with Mandeep Dhaliwal of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It highlights why the world is in a crisis in its fight against HIV.

Focus on the community

Speaking on behalf of civil society, Karen Dunaway, global program officer for the International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW), urged participants to remember that the policies discussed in the room shape real lives.

“The future of this response will be determined by the choices we make in this room,” she said.

She called for protecting bodily autonomy, promoting gender equality, and eliminating laws and policies that exclude, criminalize, and stigmatize key people.

unfinished battle

She reflected on decades of advocacy work and reminded participants that progress does not happen automatically.

“Every benefit had to be fought for. Every barrier that was removed required someone to question it. Every effort is a choice,” she said.

“That’s why this moment is so important. The people in this room have the power to shape an HIV response that can change our world for the better.”

The two-day conference is scheduled to conclude with the adoption of a new political declaration aimed at becoming the world’s primary accountability framework for countries’ HIV responses by 2030.