Updates
Statement by Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Launch of the UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2025
Statement by Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
10 July 2025
The launch of “AIDS, Crisis and the Power to Transform” marks a milestone in our ongoing fight against HIV and AIDS. By 2024, we have made unprecedented progress: annual new infections and AIDS-related deaths have fallen to their lowest levels in decades, with 32 million people now on life-saving treatment. This progress has saved over 26 million lives and brought hope to millions.
Yet deep inequalities persist. Globally, 45% of new infections in 2024 were among women and girls, rising to 63% in sub-Saharan Africa. Every week, 4,000 adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 become infected with HIV — enough to fill nearly 80 classrooms full of students, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Each new infection is not just a statistic but a young life whose future education, dreams and potential are put at risk.
Alarmingly, sudden and drastic funding cuts now threaten to reverse our hard-won gains. Layoffs in community outreach and health care staff are already causing people to fall out of care, jeopardizing the progress made.
Amid these challenges, the scientific breakthrough of lenacapavir offers transformative promise. This injectable drug could revolutionize prevention and treatment, bringing us closer than ever to a generation free of AIDS—children born without HIV and empowered to protect themselves. To realize this promise, we must ensure urgent coordination, affordable access, and strong political commitment.
Ending AIDS remains one of the most achievable and cost-effective goals in global health. But it demands bold investment, unwavering solidarity, and a commitment to equity — because everyone, regardless of where they live or whom they love, deserves the chance to live free from HIV.