“The Question Is No Longer Whether We Can End AIDS, the Question Is Whether We Choose to End AIDS“

To coincide with the first day of the International AIDS Conference, UNAIDS released an update to its annual report on the global state of the epidemic, which Executive Director Winnie Byanyima described as telling two stories: “the first one of extraordinary scientific progress … the second is a warning.”

As of December 2025, 32 million people living with HIV were accessing antiretroviral therapy, but, last year, new HIV infections rose in three of the world’s five regions. More than half of all children currently living with HIV do not have access to medications.

“Progress is slowing,” Byanyima said at a press conference to mark the start of the conference. “Every day, around 3,400 people acquire HIV. Every day, around 1,600 die from AIDS-related illnesses. The HIV pandemic is not over; without urgent action it could resurge.”

The report shows international funding for the HIV response has hit its lowest level in nearly two decades: falling from $8.8 billion (U.S.) in 2024 to $7.3 billion in 2025, a reduction of 18%.

“I am alive today because of science, because of activism, and a community that came together,” Erika Castellanos of GATE (Global Action for Trans Equality) said during the conference’s opening press conference. “Fund the HIV response like lives depend on it. Because they do.”

amfAR at AIDS 2026

The theme of this year’s conference is “Rethink. Rebuild. Rise.” and these words will be on everyone’s mind as an estimated 10,000 advocates, researchers, and policymakers from around the world gather in person and virtually in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the International AIDS Society’s biannual conference, AIDS 2026. Among them will be representatives from amfAR and amfAR-funded researchers who are participating in more than 20 sessions and poster presentations.

Highlights include:

July 28: Greg Millett, MPH, amfAR Vice President and Director of Public Policy, will moderate a session entitled “Economics of impact: Costing studies across the cascade” which will highlight research on long-acting HIV treatments, as well as programs to provide PrEP and HIV testing at lower costs.

July 29: Elise Lankiewicz, MPH, amfAR Senior Policy Associate, will present the findings of amfAR’s PEPFAR Pulse Study at the Co-Chairs’ Choice session, moderated by AIDS 2026 Co-Chairs Draurio Barreira, Claudia Cortes, and International AIDS Society President Beatriz Grinsztejn.

July 29: Kyle Clifford, amfAR CEO, will moderate the session “Safeguarding space and services for key populations in the face of shrinking resources,” which will explore novel strategies to ensure members of communities most impacted by HIV maintain access to prevention and care in the wake of cuts to funding and HIV programs worldwide.

July 31: Nadia Roan, PhD, amfAR grantee, will discuss the cell makeup of the active viral reservoir, the primary barrier to an HIV cure, and how this latent HIV can persist for decades in a session entitled “Unlocking HIV control: Host-virus genetics, immunity, and the path to a cure.” Dr. Roan is currently part of an amfAR-supported collaborative study using AI-enabled science, The HIV Immune Atlas Study, a groundbreaking effort aimed at transforming scientific understanding of how HIV affects different cell types and the immune system at large.