Nearly nine million people living with HIV are not receiving treatment, despite major progress in expanding access to antiretroviral medicines. UNAIDS estimates that 40.9 million people were living with HIV in 2025. Of these, 32.1 million were accessing antiretroviral therapy. This means about 8.8 million people remained without treatment. Around 78% of people living with HIV had treatment access.
UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima highlighted the treatment gap during the United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York. The meeting took place on 22 and 23 June 2026.
It was the final High-Level Meeting before the 2030 deadline for ending AIDS as a public health threat. Member States gathered to consider a new political declaration and global targets for the next five years.
The latest figures show that 1.2 million people acquired HIV during 2025. About 570,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses. UNAIDS estimates that one person dies from HIV-related causes every minute during the year.
Funding Cuts Weaken HIV Testing And Prevention
The global HIV response is under growing financial pressure. Official development assistance fell by 23.1% in 2025. This was the largest annual decline recorded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Aid to sub-Saharan Africa fell by 26.3%.
The reductions have disrupted testing and prevention programmes in countries with a high HIV burden.
UNAIDS said HIV testing programmes fell by 22% in high-burden settings between 2024 and 2025. Funding for condoms was cut by more than 90% in some cases. Use of daily pre-exposure prophylaxis also declined sharply across reporting countries.
Reduced testing could leave more people unaware of their HIV status. UNAIDS estimates that about five million people living with HIV did not know their status in 2025. Delayed diagnosis can prevent people from starting treatment and increase the risk of transmission.
These setbacks come as long-acting prevention medicines offer new opportunities. Some treatments can provide protection through two injections a year. More than 6,000 people in five sub-Saharan African countries were accessing long-acting lenacapavir by the end of March 2026. However, UNAIDS estimates that 20 million people need access to antiretroviral prevention medicines.
Community Services And Human Rights Face Pressure
Community organisations provide testing, prevention and treatment support to people who may struggle to use conventional healthcare facilities.
However, UNAIDS warned that community-led services were disappearing as funding declined. Prevention programmes were also being scaled back.
Women and girls, gay men, transgender people, sex workers and people who inject drugs face particularly high risks. Discrimination and criminalisation can discourage people from seeking care.
UNAIDS data show that the risk of acquiring HIV is substantially higher among several marginalised groups. Protecting human rights is therefore central to improving testing and treatment coverage.
Global HIV Treatment Gap Threatens 2030 Goal
Countries are responding by increasing national investment. Byanyima said 52 countries had committed to raising domestic HIV financing following rapid reductions in international assistance.
Domestic financing accounted for 52% of global HIV funding in 2024, up from 28% in 2010. However, UNAIDS warned that national budgets cannot fully replace international support.
Regional initiatives such as the Accra Reset and the African Union Roadmap to 2030 aim to strengthen national ownership of healthcare systems. Yet sustained donor support will remain essential for many lower-income countries.
UNAIDS is urging governments to protect community-led services, uphold human rights and expand access to scientific innovation. It also wants countries to maintain international financing while building more sustainable domestic funding systems.
The global HIV treatment gap can still be closed. However, falling aid, reduced testing and weakened prevention services risk reversing decades of progress.
- This article is based on remarks by Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), at a high-level meeting in the General Assembly Hall, 22 June 2026.