Brasilia, Brazil — UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima has issued a stark warning that the global fight against HIV/AIDS is at a critical juncture, cautioning that inaction could reverse decades of hard-won progress and trigger a resurgent pandemic.
Addressing the 57th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) in Brasilia on December 17, Byanyima said disruptions to funding, services and coordination are already costing lives and putting millions at risk.
“AIDS is not over — and inaction is not an option,” she said, stressing that people living with HIV are dying, prevention services are being cut, adolescent girls and young women are losing access to care, and community-led organisations are being forced to close.
In her report to the Board, Byanyima laid out five prerequisites she said must be safeguarded to keep the HIV response alive and on track to end AIDS as a public health threat: political ambition, innovation, bold targets and rigorous tracking of progress, a truly multisectoral response and inclusive governance with civil society and communities at the centre.
She warned that failure to meet the targets in the new Global AIDS Strategy could result in 3.3 million new HIV infections by 2030, calling the stakes “incredibly high”.
Crisis amid progress
While highlighting major gains — including 77% of people living with HIV now on treatment and nearly 27 million lives saved — Byanyima underscored that 1.3 million people were newly infected last year and 630,000 died from AIDS-related causes, all of them preventable.
She noted that Latin America, the host region of the meeting, is seeing rising infections, with 120,000 new cases recorded last year — a 13% increase since 2010.
Byanyima also pointed to a severe funding gap facing the United Nations and UNAIDS, driven by global conflicts and shifting political priorities, even as needs remain acute.
Learning from history
Recalling UNAIDS’ creation in 1996 at the height of the epidemic, Byanyima said the Joint Programme was born out of crisis and has repeatedly adapted to meet new challenges.
“UNAIDS was established to provide leadership, coordination, and accountability — and that role remains essential today,” she said.
She credited political mobilisation, innovation in medicines and delivery, and the use of bold global targets — such as the 90-90-90 and 95-95-95 goals — with transforming the HIV response and global health more broadly.
Byanyima praised Brazil’s historic leadership, noting it was the first middle-income country to guarantee free access to antiretroviral treatment in 1996, and congratulated the country on being certified by WHO-PAHO for eliminating vertical transmission of HIV.
Communities at the centre
A central theme of her address was the indispensable role of civil society and communities, which she said are not optional partners but the foundation of the AIDS response.
“UNAIDS was created to look like the HIV movement — led by communities,” Byanyima said, warning that any transition of UNAIDS functions within the wider UN system must protect this inclusive governance model.
Call to act, not retreat
As UNAIDS undergoes a major transformation aligned with the UN Secretary-General’s UN80 reform agenda — including deep staffing cuts and consolidation of country operations — Byanyima urged Board members not to walk away from the response.
“This is not a time to retreat,” she said. “Thirty years of work, billions of dollars, and millions of lives are at stake.”
She concluded with a call for urgency and resolve, saying the challenge now is how fast the world can act without risking the progress already made. “Time after time, we have overcome the odds,” Byanyima said. “We are here to do it again. And yes — we can.”