Papua New Guinea has long relied on international funding for its HIV response. The island country north of Australia covers only 30% of its HIV spending, with the rest funded by international donors. As global HIV financing declines, critical gaps in HIV prevention, testing and treatment have crept in. 

A sustained rise in HIV infections — which have doubled since 2010 — combined with increasing strain on the health system and challenges linked to declining funding, led the Government of Papua New Guinea to declare a national HIV crisis in June 2025. 

This crisis is increasingly affecting women and children. In 2024, an estimated 2,700 infants acquired HIV—around seven each day—while women account for approximately 60% of adults living with HIV in the country. Only around one quarter of pregnant women living with HIV receive antiretroviral therapy to stay healthy and prevent transmission to their child. 

Declaring the crisis, Minister for Health Elias Kapavore described the situation as “deeply concerning” and pledged to mobilise urgent resources to protect “the next generation of Papua New Guineans”. 

This year, the Government of Papua New Guinea allocated an emergency fund of US$13.5 million (50 million Papua New Guinean kina) for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. The funding will support expanded prevention, increased access to testing and treatment, and strengthened services for pregnant women, children, adolescents and key populations. 

The National Executive Council under the leadership of Prime Minister James Marape approved the funds. 

“UNAIDS welcomes this important step towards a more sustainable AIDS response, while noting that further joint efforts are needed. We are working closely with the Government to implement the emergency response plan, scale up prevention and mobilise urgently needed resources,” said Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. 

“Behind every number is someone like me—a mother, a woman trying her best,” said Blendi, who found out she was living with HIV three years ago. She had feared that she would not live to see her two children grow up. 

Despite being born with a physical disability and facing social stigma, she pursued her education, earned a degree and became the main breadwinner for her family. 

“I am very thankful,” she said. “The medication is there. The doctors are there. They helped me continue living for my children.” 

“This is a shared public health crisis that demands shared responsibility,” said Manoela Manova, UNAIDS Country Director in Papua New Guinea. “Sustaining services—especially for those most at risk—must remain a priority.” 

For families like Blendi’s, the stakes are clear. The systems that made her treatment possible were built over the years and must now be sustained. 

As a community health worker and HIV advocate, Blendi cannot imagine it any other way. 

GENEVA, 15 April 2026—UNAIDS commends the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and the United States for their commitment to further increase access to long-acting HIV prevention medication. In a recent statement they pledged to increase their initial ambition of reaching 2 million with lenacapavir, twice yearly injections which prevent HIV, to reach 3 million people by 2028. 

UNAIDS encourages all countries to continue this momentum to scale up HIV prevention efforts -at least 20 million people need to be accessing antiretroviral-based prevention by 2030 to end AIDS as a public health threat as outlined in the Global AIDS Strategy 2026-2031 and global targets for 2030. 

“This expanded commitment is an important step forward, and we applaud the Global Fund and the United States for accelerating access to lenacapavir,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “However, to end AIDS as a public health threat, we must urgently go further—by enabling large-scale generic manufacturing, especially on the African continent, lowering prices through transparent, equitable pricing frameworks that enable widespread uptake in low- and middle-income countries.”

Lenacapavir has shown to be at least 96% effective in preventing HIV. To date deliveries have reached Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Many are already implementing the roll out to people at higher risk of HIV including adolescent girls and young women, pregnant women, and key populations including men who have sex with men and sex workers. UNAIDS continues to support countries and communities on the ground by helping to align policies to ensure access, affordability, and availability of this and other innovations.

UNAIDS urges immediate acceleration of technology transfer, clear production timelines, and expansion of licensing to additional manufacturers—particularly in Africa—to ensure sustainable and affordable supply at scale.

“Communities have waited too long for prevention options that meet their needs. Lenacapavir can be transformative—but only if it is accessible, affordable and available everywhere. We call on all partners to work together to break down barriers, speed up generic production, and invest in manufacturing, particularly in Africa which remains the epicentre of the epidemic, so that no one is left behind.”

UNAIDS’ new Global AIDS Strategy 2026-2031 lays out a path for collective action over the next five years and beyond. It aims to ensure that by 2030: 40 million people living with HIV are on HIV treatment and are virally suppressed; 20 million people are accessing antiretroviral-based HIV prevention options; and all people can access discrimination-free HIV-related services.

UNAIDS stresses that reaching 20 million people with antiretroviral-based HIV prevention options, including lenacapavir, by 2030 is critical to reduce new HIV infections, which remain unacceptably high at an estimated 1.3 million per year globally. 

This moment represents a historic opportunity to transform HIV prevention. UNAIDS calls on governments, donors, manufacturers and communities to act with urgency and accountability to ensure lenacapavir reaches everyone who needs it, no matter where they live. 

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.

UNAIDS is deeply saddened by the death of Stephen Lewis, an early and vocal champion of the AIDS response who passed away on 31 March 2026. UNAIDS expresses its sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

Stephen Lewis was a strong supporter of the AIDS response and showed great leadership and courage in speaking out against HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the early days of the epidemic.

Stephen Lewis’s work with the United Nations spanned more than two decades. He was the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa from June 2001 until the end of 2006 and later established the Stephen Lewis Foundation in 2003, which remains focused on community organizations working on HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. He also served as a Commissioner on the Global Commission on HIV & the Law. 

He was bold, compassionate and tireless in confronting HIV-related stigma and discrimination from the early days of the epidemic and his contribution to the AIDS response will not be forgotten. 

Stephen Lewis devoted his life to advocating and drawing attention to the AIDS crisis and calling on leaders and the public to respond. 

His leadership championed the welfare of people living with HIV and supported communities to be meaningfully involved in the HIV response. It is thanks to leaders such as Stephen Lewis that today more than 31 million people globally have access to HIV treatment. 

What Stephen Lewis said in April of 2004 still holds true today “Surely the increasingly realistic prospect of prolonging and saving the lives of millions of men, women and children will galvanize the international community and open the vaults of compassion. If ever there was a test of human solidarity, that test is now.” 

UNAIDS pays tribute to Mr Lewis's leadership and mourns the loss of a remarkable colleague and advocate. His legacy will live on through the work he advanced and the lives he impacted around the world.