The global HIV response is at a critical juncture.
The 2021 Political Declaration galvanized action to address the inequalities that fuel the global HIV epidemic.
We are far from achieving the 2025 targets set out in the 2021 Political Declaration.
The 2026 high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS is the opportunity for the international community to collaborate and renew its commitment to ending AIDS as a public health threat.
No community or country can end AIDS alone: we must stand together.
As mandated in the 2021 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS: Ending Inequalities and Getting on Track to End AIDS by 2030, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 75/284, this report reviews progress towards realizing the commitments set out in the 2021 Political Declaration and outlines the strategic directions for the world to achieve its goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, with the opportunity of the new Global AIDS Strategy for 2026–2031: United Towards Ending AIDS and the 2026 political declaration.
The global HIV response is at a critical juncture. Progress is real and measurable, but it is increasingly vulnerable to converging crises, including declines in external financing, the high debt burden in the countries most affected by HIV, a growing number of humanitarian crises and a regression in human rights. At the same time, renewed country leadership, improved sustainability and significant innovations – including long-acting HIV prevention and treatment tools – offer new opportunities to accelerate progress.
The 2021 Political Declaration galvanized action to address the inequalities that fuel the global HIV epidemic. Over 31.6 million of the 40.8 million people living with HIV were receiving life-saving antiretroviral therapy in 2024, reducing numbers of AIDS-related deaths to their lowest level since the early 1990s. Significant gains have been made in sub-Saharan Africa, underscoring the power of national leadership, multilateral partnerships and multisectoral coordinated interventions.
But AIDS is not over. We are far from achieving the 2025 targets set out in the 2021 Political Declaration. At the end of 2024, 9.2 million people could not access HIV treatment; there were 630,000 AIDS-related deaths (two times the 2025 target); and 1.3 million people acquired HIV (3.5 times the 2025 target). a A pathway to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 exists and remains open, but this pathway requires HIV responses to adapt to the new context, confront the structural inequities that undermine access, close funding gaps and accelerate the expansion of HIV services in sustainable ways. The Global AIDS Strategy for 2026–2031, developed through robust multistakeholder engagement to guide countries to reach the 2030 targets, was adopted at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Programme Coordinating Board meeting in December 2025. It is a strategy for the world that presents a framework and actions serving the needs of people living with, at risk of or affected by HIV, based on country ownership, people-centred services and community leadership. The 2026 high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS is the opportunity for the international community to collaborate and renew its commitment to ending AIDS as a public health threat. No community or country can end AIDS alone: we must stand together.
