NEW YORK/GENEVA, 4 June 2026—UNAIDS welcomes the release of the United Nations Secretary-General’s report on HIV/AIDS, issued ahead of the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS taking place in New York on 22–23 June 2026. In the report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivers a clear message that the world has made historic gains against HIV, but that the gains are increasingly at risk unless governments urgently recommit to the global AIDS response. 

“The global HIV response is at a critical juncture. Progress is real and measurable, but it is increasingly vulnerable to converging crises,” said Mr Guterres, citing declines in external funding, rising debt burdens, humanitarian emergencies and regression in human rights. 

The Secretary‑General highlights that 31.6 million of the 40.8 million people living with HIV were on treatment in 2024, the highest number ever recorded and that AIDS‑related deaths have fallen by 54% since 2010, reaching their lowest level since the early 1990s. 

The report outlines that countries in eastern and southern Africa—home to the majority of people living with HIV—have led the way. Seven countries in the region achieved the global 95‑95‑95 testing and treatment targets in 2024. 

“These achievements are a shining testament of the progress to end AIDS when political leadership, community action and sustained investment come together,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. 

However, the report underscores that the world is far off track from the 2025 targets set in the 2021 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. Some 9.2 million people still lack access to HIV treatment, around 630,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2024—double the 2025 target of 250,000 and 1.3 million people became infected with HIV in 2024—3.5 times the 2025 target of 370,000 by 2025.  

The report outlines that progress remains uneven. New HIV infections have risen sharply in the Middle East and North Africa (up 94% since 2010) and have increased in Latin America as well as in eastern Europe and central Asia. 

The report also warns of the need to confront the structural inequities that undermine access to HIV services, close funding gaps and accelerate the expansion of HIV services in sustainable ways. Adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa continue to acquire HIV at three to four times the rate of their male peers.  

Key populations and their partners account for 74% of new infections outside sub-Saharan Africa. The Secretary-General warns in the report that declines in external financing for health are projected to drop by up to 40%, with HIV prevention and community-led services most at risk. In western and central Africa, 90% of treatment funding comes from external donors. Prevention programmes in sub-Saharan Africa rely on 80% external funding. 

“Without urgent action to close the funding gap, millions of lives are at stake,” said Ms Byanyima. “We cannot allow financial shocks, backlashes against human rights or political backsliding to reverse decades of progress.” 

The report lays out some of the major opportunities to accelerate progress. Long-acting HIV prevention tools, including injectable HIV prevention medicines, are becoming more accessible, with generic versions expected at US$ 40 per person per year, however progress on roll-out is slow.  

Community-led organizations, proven to improve testing, treatment adherence and viral suppression, must be protected, funded and integrated into country ownership plans. New national sustainability roadmaps, developed together with UNAIDS, in more than 30 countries are strengthening domestic ownership of HIV responses. 

The UN Secretary-General calls on Member States to endorse bold new 2030 HIV targets in the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS due to be adopted at the upcoming High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS. The targets will build on the 2025 commitments and aim to ensure continued progress towards the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and sustaining it into the future.  

“The pathway to end AIDS by 2030 exists and remains open,” concludes Mr Guterres. “But only if we act together.” 

UNAIDS urges all governments to use the upcoming High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS to recommit to ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, to protect and expand funding for HIV prevention, treatment and community-led services particularly by increasing domestic resources for HIV, to remove punitive laws and policies that fuel stigma and block access to HIV services and to ensure equitable access to innovations, including long-acting HIV prevention and treatment.  

“Ending AIDS is a political choice,” said Ms Byanyima. “With courage, solidarity and investment, we can finish the job.” 

The report of the UN Secretary-General is an instrumental reference to inform negotiations by member states on the new Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS in the lead up to the High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS on 22-23 June 2026. More information including this report and the Civil Society Statement for the High-Level Meeting are available on the special UNAIDS web page United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS.

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.

PANAMA CITY/GENEVA, 4 June 2026—UNAIDS congratulates the Turks and Caicos Islands on certification from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for eliminating both mother-to-child transmission of HIV and hepatitis B.  

To receive the certification, countries must meet strict criteria, including reducing the mother-to-child transmission rate of HIV to below 2%, maintaining fewer than 50 new paediatric infections per 100,000 live births, and achieving at least 95% coverage for antenatal care, testing and treatment among pregnant women.  

Across the Caribbean, countries and territories have worked towards the global targets of eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV. WHO and PAHO first certified Cuba in 2015 for dual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. In 2017, certifications followed for Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and Saint Kitts and Nevis.  

More recently, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have also been certified. The Bahamas received its certification in April 2026. The Turks and Caicos Islands now become the thirteenth Caribbean country or territory to reach this milestone and the latest proof that the region continues to lead the world on this agenda.  

"The Turks and Caicos Islands have just written their name into a growing list of Caribbean jurisdictions that are showing the world what determined, rights-based public health action looks like,” said the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima. “As we head into the High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York, this is the message the world needs to hear: elimination is not a distant ambition it is achievable, one birth at a time.”  

In 2010, countries of the Americas committed to eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. They endorsed a regional strategy that was later updated through PAHO's Plan of Action for the Prevention and Control of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections. To reach elimination targets, countries have strengthened HIV prevention and treatment within primary health care and maternal and child health services through wider screening during pregnancy, better follow-up for babies exposed to HIV and faster access to medicines and care. 

The Turks and Caicos Islands' certification is part of the broader Elimination of Mother-to-Child transmission of HIV Plus Initiative, which focuses on the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and congenital Chagas disease. The initiative is implemented in collaboration with UNICEF and UNAIDS and is embedded within PAHO's Elimination Initiative, a regional effort to eliminate more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions in the Americas by 2030.  

The Caribbean has reduced new HIV infections among children by 34% from 2010 to 2024. Of the 23 certifications of mother-to-child transmission of HIV completed globally to date, 57% are from the Caribbean—a record that reflects decades of political commitment, technical and community leadership and investment in integrated health services grounded in human rights and gender equality.  

UNAIDS encourages the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands to protect and build on this achievement, through continued investment in maternal and child health services, reliable access to medicines and diagnostics, action to tackle stigma and discrimination, and support for community-led responses that keep women and 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.