PANAMA, 30 October 2025—UNAIDS congratulates the Government and people of Barbados on obtaining certification of the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, as determined by the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Barbados was among the countries in the Americas that, in 2010, committed to eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis under PAHO’s Plan of Action for the Prevention and Control of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections. 

In 2025, PAHO/WHO conducted a visit to the island to assess services for pregnant and breastfeeding women, including testing and diagnostic services, as well as HIV-related services, maternal and child health clinics, immunization and epidemiological surveillance services that are essential to preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B. 

“UNAIDS is delighted to share in this achievement, made possible by the work and leadership of health-care workers, people living with HIV, civil society, and technical and political leaders, whose efforts have helped ensure that all women can receive the treatment and care they need to prevent HIV transmission to their babies,” said Luisa Cabal, UNAIDS Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Today, we celebrate this achievement, which adds to the progress made across Latin America and the Caribbean, including Brazil, which was certified in December 2025. With the addition of Barbados, the region now accounts for 15 of the 23 countries and territories worldwide that have achieved certification of the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, compared with 8 in other regions. This represents approximately 65% of all certifications globally and reflects the region's commitment, while reaffirming the importance of safeguarding the progress achieved to advance towards ending AIDS as a public health threat. 

UNAIDS recognizes PAHO’s leadership in the region and the work of all partners and allies, at both national and regional levels, who have contributed to these efforts. 

“The Caribbean has strong maternal health programmes that offer valuable lessons on how to protect the health and well-being of women and their babies,” Cabal said. “This achievement reflects political commitment, technical and community leadership, as well as investment in integrated health services grounded in human rights and gender equality.” 

UNAIDS encourages the Government of Barbados to build on this achievement through sustained investment in maternal and child health services, reliable access to medicines and diagnostic tests, action to tackle stigma and discrimination, and support for community-led responses that keep women and their families connected to care.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

For LGBTI communities, human rights violations are a daily reality, not an abstract risk. Activists face harassment, violence, displacement, arbitrary detention and online attacks, often while trying to keep HIV services running in increasingly restrictive environments. When rights are under attack, access to HIV prevention and treatment suffers for people who are already marginalized. 

UNAIDS is partnering with more than 130 LGBTI-led organizations and groups in over 50 countries to strengthen resilience, amplify community voices and protect hard-won gains for human rights and health. The initiative supports community-led responses in three areas: strengthening the leadership and advocacy of trans and gender-diverse people, providing rapid support to communities facing human rights emergencies, and shaping public narratives through strategic media engagement. 

Supporting trans-led organizations on the frontlines 

Trans and gender-diverse communities are among those most affected by the rise in anti-rights mobilization. UNAIDS and the Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) are working together to strengthen the capacity, sustainability and leadership of trans-led organizations. The initiative provides support to country and local trans-led organizations to organize advocacy and strategic communications campaigns and human rights monitoring, enabling organizations to remain active in increasingly challenging environments. 

In Panama, a small grant helped open the door to the country's first trans-led engagement with the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Trans activists received training on human rights and advocacy and documented the barriers, discrimination and health-care challenges they face. A community delegation then presented the findings to diplomatic missions in Geneva, helping to ensure that the realities faced by trans communities informed recommendations on equality and non-discrimination. 

So far, the partnership has provided 14 grants to strengthen civil society's resilience against anti-rights attacks and seven grants to collect data and submit country reports to UN mechanisms such as the UPR. 

"When UNAIDS invests in civil society leadership, resources reach the communities most affected, lived experiences become evidence, and evidence becomes advocacy, protection and accountability. At a time when anti-gender movements are escalating and civic space is shrinking, this partnership shows that meaningful support to community-led organizations can transform vulnerability into collective power, and collective power into lasting change," said Erika Castellanos, Executive Director, GATE. 

Emergency support funds 

To help communities respond to urgent crises, UNAIDS supports regional emergency support funds that provide rapid, flexible assistance to organizations and individuals facing threats to their safety, rights and wellbeing. The funds are implemented through regional and global community networks including APCOM Foundation, East Africa Trans Health and Advocacy Network (EATHAN), Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity (ECOM), Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) and Youth LEAD which place community leadership at the centre of decision-making so that support reaches people most affected as quickly as possible. 

Demand for assistance continues to grow. In 2026, partners in Eastern and Southern Africa and in West and Central Africa alone received more than 300 emergency requests. This year, the funds have supported more than 60 organizations and groups across four regions, in addition to the 42 that received support in 2025. 

The support has ranged from legal assistance in Kyrgyzstan to a safe community space organized in Fiji by a group working for LGBTI people living with disabilities, demonstrating the critical importance of community-led emergency responses. 

"At a time when LGBTI communities are facing growing hostility, this support is about far more than emergency protection. It helps sustain community leadership, protect access to HIV services, and ensure that those on the frontlines of defending human rights are not left to face these threats alone," said Micheal Ighodaro Executive Director, GBGMC. 

Telling stories that challenge harmful stereotypes 

Protecting rights also means changing the narrative beyond policy spaces. Recognizing the growing influence of social and mass media on public attitudes, UNAIDS is partnering in 2026 with SHUGA Global to support new approaches to narrative change. 

Working with LGBTI organizations in Côte d'Ivoire and Kenya, SHUGA Global will develop two short films that highlight authentic community experiences and challenge harmful stereotypes and misinformation about LGBTI people. Local LGBTI organizations will help shape the storylines, provide technical input, facilitate community consultations and ensure the films reflect the lived realities and priorities of LGBTI people. By putting community voices at the centre of storytelling, the films aim to foster understanding, strengthen empathy and contribute to more inclusive public conversations. 

"Stories can reach people in ways that facts and statistics alone often cannot," said Umunyana Rugege, UNAIDS Team Lead, Communities & Human Rights. "By working directly with communities, we can help ensure that LGBTI people are represented with dignity, authenticity and agency. 

GENEVA 28 October 2026—The Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) congratulates Mark Dybul on his appointment as the new Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). 

UNAIDS also warmly welcomes the new Global Fund Chair and Vice-Chair, Erna Solberg and Javier Hourcade Bellocq. “UNAIDS Joint Programme looks forward to continuing to work closely with Mr Dybul and the Global Fund partnership to support countries and communities to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and sustain the progress into the future,” said Angeli Achrekar, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS and Board Member of the Global Fund. "By connecting financing with country-level data, policy expertise and engagement with communities, the Global Fund and UNAIDS can help ensure that investments are aligned with national and community priorities and deliver lasting results.”   

Throughout his career, Mr Dybul has supported the work of UNAIDS, also serving as Vice-Chair and later Chair of UNAIDS’ Programme Coordinating Board. Mr Dybul previously served as the Executive Director at the Global Fund from 2013 to 2017, where he worked closely with UNAIDS on accelerating country level progress. He previously served as the United States Global AIDS Coordinator, leading the launch of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the largest HIV programme in the world.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 26 October 2026—The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) has reaffirmed strong support for a continued, streamlined and efficient UNAIDS Joint Programme. Board members were unanimous that its transformation must protect people and communities living with, at risk and affected by HIV, and ensure governments and communities sustain and enhance the gains of the AIDS response.  

In her remarks, Executive Director Winnie Byanyima captured the significance of the decision, “You have rejected the sunsetting of UNAIDS and chosen instead to transform and strengthen this unique Joint Programme. I thank programme countries, donors, civil society and activists who stood firm and fought for the future of UNAIDS. Saving the Joint Programme is only the beginning. Now we must transform it and get that transformation right.” 

At its special session today, the Board took note of the final report of the PCB Working Group and approved the overall strategic direction for transition of UNAIDS as set out in the report. It asked the PCB Chair to transmit that direction and the Board’s decisions to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). 

The decisions taken by the board are in support of the directions set by the Secretary-General’s UN80 reforms. A transformed United Nations must measure its success not by the structures it preserves or abolishes, but by the impact we deliver for people. Addressing the Board, the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said, “The Secretary-General’s intention was to preserve and strengthen the UN’s HIV response in face of disruption and anchor the response more firmly at the country level.” 

The key strategic directions outlined in the report include: 

• UNAIDS will not be sunset, and the UN's mandate on HIV continues 
• A strong and focused Secretariat (Hub) leading on four core functions 
• Cosponsors taking stronger leadership in technical areas, according to the division of labour 
• Communities at the centre of the model at every level, with a shift to co-creation and co-leadership 
• Human rights and gender equality protected 
• The ECOSOC mandate and inclusive governance under the PCB maintained 
• A phased transition, not a rushed one, shaped by each country's context and readiness. 

The Board requested the Executive Director to establish a Transition Task Team, comprising Secretariat and Cosponsor representatives and two community representatives nominated by the PCB NGO delegation. The team will work closely with implementing countries, consult relevant Joint Programme stakeholders and be accountable to the Board for delivering a fully costed implementation plan. 

Many programme countries have stepped forward to support UNAIDS in the face of funding cuts and potential withdrawal from countries. 

Algerian Ambassador Idris Latreche announced an early voluntary contribution of US$40,000 to the UNAIDS country office in Algiers for 2027. Algeria also provides office premises free of charge and national personnel to support the office’s operations. Contributions have come from many countries including Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Kazakhstan, Laos, Philippines, South Africa and Thailand. 

“These contributions reflect Algeria’s commitment to our collective efforts towards maintaining an effective UNAIDS presence at country level, towards ensuring continuity of services, and towards avoiding any disruption that could affect the people who depend on them,” said Ambassador Latreche. 

The Board also approved the 2027 Work Plan and Budget, including simplified performance reporting. It thanked governments that contributed to the 2026 budget and urged others to release their contributions as soon as possible. It also encouraged governments to make multi-year commitments and release their 2027 contributions promptly. 

Ms Byanyima also informed the Board that she will complete her service as Executive Director on 31 December 2026. The Secretary-General will appoint an interim Executive Director from 1 January 2027 while the Board begins the selection process for the next Executive Director. 

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

In March 2024, UNAIDS established a Global Task Team of experts from governments, civil society, donors, academic and public health institutions to recommend a new set of global HIV targets for 2030. The targets set out what is required to put the world on the path to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. But defining the ambition raised an equally important question: what would it actually cost, and what impact would achieving the targets have? 

To answer it, the UNAIDS Sustainability Practice produced The impact and cost of reaching the UNAIDS global HIV targets, a comprehensive assessment drawing on resource needs estimation and epidemiological modelling across more than 118 countries.

The study was jointly led by two experts with complementary roles. John Stover led the epidemiological modelling to quantify the health impact of reaching the 2030 targets. Deepak Mattur, of UNAIDS, led the overall resource needs framework: building and validating a global unit cost database, convening technical consultations with UNAIDS, partner agencies and national programmes, and bringing biomedical, health system and societal enabler investments together into a single global estimate.

Mariana Siapka, Triantafyllos Pliakas and Ricardo Valladares-Cardona contributed to estimating the resources needed for societal enablers, the often overlooked investments that shape whether people can access services at all.

“Resource needs provide an important bridge between ambition and accountability," Mr Mattur explains. “They have provided countries and partners a benchmark against which to monitor progress in mobilizing financial resources, assess financing gaps, track domestic and international commitments, and plan for a more sustainable HIV response through 2030 and beyond.”

What the evidence shows

Reaching the UNAIDS 2030 targets could cut annual new HIV infections by 77% and AIDS-related deaths by 50% between 2023 and 2030, effectively meeting the 2030 goal of ending AIDS as 90% reduction in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths compared with 2010. Doing so would require approximately US$21.9 billion annually in low- and middle-income countries by 2030.

Just as important is what the analysis says about how. Ending AIDS cannot be achieved through treatment and prevention alone. It requires sustained investment in health systems, community-led responses, human rights and societal enablers.

 “The modeling confirms that through a combination of responses including biomedical, behavioral and societal interventions we can achieve Ending AIDS targets at a reasonable cost,” says Mr Stover.

From evidence to commitment

The analysis became a key evidence base for the 2030 global HIV targets, particularly the financing targets on total resource mobilization, domestic HIV financing, prevention investments and societal enablers. Its findings have informed discussions ahead of the 2026 High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, giving political commitments a foundation in evidence and giving the world a way to hold itself accountable.

The publication is written for those who must make the hard decisions: governments, donors, development partners, civil society, community organizations, researchers and policy-makers. It offers a shared benchmark for assessing financing gaps, aligning priorities and tracking progress, and it informs conversations about sustainable financing and domestic resource mobilization.

It also reflects the unique role UNAIDS plays: convening partners, setting evidence-based targets, supporting country validation, coordinating technical expertise across institutions, and translating global ambition into concrete investment needs.

Geneva/New York, 26 October 2026—UNAIDS welcomes the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Political Declaration on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) on 12 October 2026, a significant reaffirmation of global solidarity and multilateral cooperation in the face of growing health threats.

UNAIDS particularly welcomes the Declaration's emphasis on equity, cooperation and benefit-sharing. The lessons of AIDS, COVID-19 and Ebola are clear: health security depends not only on scientific innovation and strong health systems, but also on whether lifesaving technologies and services reach everyone who needs them, especially the communities most affected.

Governments must now urgently conclude an equitable agreement on the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system. This is an essential next step in turning the commitments of the Declaration into action. Beyond PABS, UNAIDS calls for stronger commitments to technology sharing and investment in local and regional production of lifesaving health technologies. Building these capacities to fight today's pandemics is also essential to ensuring equitable access when the next pandemic strikes.

"The real test starts now. Action cannot wait for the next pandemic," said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. "We must invest in equity today if we want to be prepared for tomorrow."

For more than three decades, UNAIDS has worked with governments, communities, scientists and partners to respond to HIV and AIDS. This experience has demonstrated that pandemics cannot be defeated by medicines and diagnostics alone. Success depends on political leadership, sustained investment, community engagement, respect for human rights and the empowerment of people most affected.

The Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Pandemics, convened by UNAIDS, has provided compelling evidence that inequality is not simply a consequence of pandemics; it is a driver of their spread and impact. Pandemics, in turn, deepen existing inequalities, creating a vicious cycle.

In its report and subsequent analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Council found that countries ranked as more prepared under conventional global preparedness measures did not, on average, achieve better outcomes in responding to COVID-19 or AIDS. By contrast, countries with lower levels of inequality tended to achieve better outcomes.

These findings challenge the way the world measures pandemic preparedness. Laboratory capacity, disease surveillance, emergency response systems and medical technologies are indispensable. But they are not sufficient. Their effectiveness can be undermined by economic inequality, discrimination, weak social protection and the exclusion of communities most at risk.

UNAIDS therefore calls for a fundamental shift in how pandemic preparedness is assessed and measured. National and global preparedness frameworks must go beyond technical health capacities to assess income and social inequalities, access to healthcare, social protection, discrimination, and the strength of community-led systems. Countries must be equipped not only to detect and respond to outbreaks, but also to protect people from the social and economic shocks that pandemics unleash.

This means integrating inequality assessments into national preparedness and response plans, investing in emergency social protection and community-led responses, and ensuring that pandemic measures reduce rather than deepen inequalities.

It also requires a fairer international financial system. Developing countries need access to affordable finance and sufficient fiscal space to strengthen health systems and respond to emergencies. Countries and international financial institutions should consider measures such as suspending debt repayments during pandemics, alongside broader debt relief and financing reforms, so that governments can protect lives and livelihoods rather than divert scarce resources to debt servicing.

The PABS system, being negotiated as an annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement, is intended to link the rapid sharing of pathogens and scientific information with the fair and equitable sharing of vaccines, diagnostics and treatments developed from them. A strong agreement would help build trust between countries and enable a faster, fairer global response to future health emergencies.

The AIDS and COVID-19 pandemics also exposed the dangers of concentrating the production of lifesaving technologies in a handful of countries and regions. Expanding local and regional manufacturing, supported by technology transfer, stronger regulatory capacity and sustainable financing, is essential to building resilient supply chains and ensuring that lifesaving innovations reach people everywhere.

"Thirty years of responding to HIV have taught us that health security and social justice go hand in hand," said Byanyima. "A country cannot be truly prepared for a pandemic if millions of its people cannot access healthcare, lack social protection or are excluded because of poverty or discrimination. We must measure preparedness by how well countries can protect everyone, especially those most vulnerable."

The measure of global pandemic preparedness must be not only how quickly the world detects a threat or develops a vaccine, but how effectively and equitably it protects every life.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.