Against HIV, retreat is not an option
On Friday, 21 November 2025, a key meeting was held on the sidelines of the G20 in South Africa. It focused on the replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The outcome confirmed a declining level of financial commitment from the international community. It is therefore essential to recall what the 2025 UNAIDS global report tells us — a simple and stark reality: despite major scientific breakthroughs and significant progress, the global HIV response is facing an unprecedented crisis.
By the end of 2024, new infections had fallen by 40% compared to 2010, and AIDS-related deaths by 56%. Yet these gains remain fragile. The sharp drop in international funding threatens to reverse this trend: more than 6 million new infections and 4 million additional deaths could occur by 2030 if support is not urgently restored.
L’Initiative, led by Expertise France and financed by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, is actively partnering with countries, especially French‑speaking ones, to strengthen resilient and inclusive health systems. We support the rollout of prevention, care and treatment services, including for the most vulnerable and often criminalized populations.
The UNAIDS report also emphasizes the crucial role of community organizations, whose impact is well documented. It is at the local level, close to social realities, that lasting transformation of the HIV response takes place. L’Initiative is convinced of this and acts accordingly.
Now is not the time to pull back, but to renew international solidarity. Transitions to more sustainable domestic financing must be managed pragmatically and equitably. They will not happen overnight, and in the fight against HIV, any delay comes with dramatic consequences. Especially when scientific and medical research has delivered unprecedented opportunities, such as the ability to prevent HIV acquisition with a long‑acting injectable prophylactic.
Preserving hard‑won gains, ensuring access to innovations, and strengthening human rights: these imperatives demand a collective, ambitious, and coherent response. In the face of crisis, the power to effect change is in our hands.
