There have been substantial setbacks in the HIV response during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when many countries were in their first lockdowns and HIV programmes were scrambling to adapt, but there have also been many inspiring examples of adaptation and resilience.

The number of people living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy increased by just 1.9% between January and June 2020, from 25.5 million people to 26.0 million people. This was followed by an accelerated 4.9% increase from July 2020 to December 2020, reaching 27.3 million people, and then a 3.4% increase during the first six months of 2021. At the end of June 2021, there were 28.2 million people living with HIV on treatment globally.