This World AIDS Day, amfAR Amplifies Its Commitment to Those at Most Risk for HIV
This World AIDS Day, amfAR Amplifies Its Commitment to Those at Most Risk for HIV
New amfAR analysis predicts 4.7 million new, preventable HIV infections worldwide, if prevention efforts aren’t focused on key populations
NEW YORK, December 1, 2025 — As the world commemorates World AIDS Day, amfAR reaffirms its commitment to a cure for everyone, everywhere, and continued support for the global response to end the HIV epidemic. Uninterrupted research and particular focus on the communities most impacted by HIV remain the most efficient pathways to an end to AIDS and improved HIV treatment access worldwide.
“This fight is personal for me, as amfAR’s first HIV+ Chief Executive Officer,” incoming CEO Kyle Clifford said. “World AIDS Day stands as a powerful reminder of both how far we’ve come and how far we must go. We have the tools to end AIDS, but we can only get to a cure with sustained commitment to science and by reaching the communities most impacted and too often left behind in global HIV prevention efforts.
“I am alive today because of amfAR research. This is not the time to take our foot off the gas, but the moment to finish what we started 40 years ago.”
Clifford formally takes the reins as CEO on Jan. 1, 2026. He joined the organization in 2020 as Chief Development Officer and has steered an increase in research funding this year in response to a tightening of resources available to HIV researchers worldwide.
In 2025, amfAR awarded grants worth more than $3.1 million to researchers working on innovative HIV cure strategies. A team led by Drs. Sharon Lewin and Thumbi Ndung’u are currently expanding on amfAR-funded research that successfully employed mRNA technology to target latent HIV, the main barrier to a cure. amfAR’s TREAT Asia program continued its CHIMERA fellowship, an NIH-funded mentorship initiative helping researchers study the relationship between HIV and mental health. And in several studies, amfAR’s Office of Public Policy quantified the potential impacts of public health policy shifts in the global HIV response.
A new analysis shows just how vital it remains to focus resources on particularly affected communities. Using data from 25 PEPFAR-supported countries across four continents, the modeling study shows that failing to focus treatment and prevention on key populations would lead to 4.7 million new, preventable HIV diagnoses by 2035.
Additionally, in its annual World AIDS Day report, UNAIDS found that 9.2 million people living with HIV still lacked access to treatment in 2024 and 1.3 million people newly acquired HIV. It also noted disturbing trends, particularly among key populations, including gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers and their clients, transgender people, and people who inject drugs. Though they account for just 6% of the adult population between the ages of 15–49, they bore 49% of new HIV diagnoses in 2024, up from 44% in 2010.
“Our analysis clearly shows when countries focus prevention efforts on key populations, new infections fall across the entire population,” amfAR Office of Public Policy Director of Research Dr. Jennifer Sherwood said. “We know how to curb new HIV infections—what we need is commitment to deploy these strategies.”
Recent breakthroughs fueled by research, including twice-annual lenacapavir for HIV PrEP, have transformative power. But their efficacy is only as good as their accessibility. Continuing the progress of the last four decades will require a continued focus on the evidence-based methods that have reduced AIDS-related deaths by 70% since their peak in 2004.
There is cause for optimism; doubling down on efforts to prevent HIV transmission among key populations can greatly accelerate declines in new infections across a nation’s entire population. Continued focus on key populations can reduce new HIV infections by more than 65%, according to amfAR’s new analysis.
About amfAR
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. Since 1985, amfAR has raised nearly $950 million in support of its programs and has awarded more than 3,800 grants to research teams worldwide. Learn more at www.amfAR.org
Media Contact:
Robert Kessler, Program Communications Manager
(212) 806-1602
robert.kessler@amfar.org
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