UNAIDS mourns the passing of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-NC), a United States Senator whose decades of public service were distinguished by an unwavering belief that American leadership in the global HIV response carries both strategic purpose and moral responsibility.  

UNAIDS extends our deepest condolences to Senator Graham’s family, friends, staff and colleagues, and to the people of North Carolina on his passing. 

Throughout his career in the Senate, Senator Graham recognized the importance of international cooperation and U.S. support for global efforts to fight HIV/AIDS and other global health challenges, reflecting his belief that such investments contribute to human well-being, security and global stability. 

In April 2023, Senator Graham played a leading role in a bipartisan push to reauthorize the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), saying, 

“We must come together once again to reauthorize PEPFAR and work to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Now is the time to remind the world what American leadership can accomplish when we put our minds and hearts to it.” 

https://www.boozman.senate.gov/2023/4/the-hill-american-generosity-has-saved-25-million-lives-and-counting-let-s-reauthorize-pepfar-now

As a steadfast supporter of PEPFAR, Senator Graham was a consistent advocate of U.S. leadership in the global HIV response, leading bipartisan Congressional political and financial support to advance one of the most successful global health initiatives in history. Through PEPFAR, the U.S. government has played a transformative role in the global HIV response, saving millions of lives around the world and preventing millions of new HIV infections. 

Senator Graham consistently worked across the aisle, helping to sustain unwavering bipartisan U.S. support for the global HIV response in the U.S. Congress for addressing global health and development challenges. He was a relentless advocate within the Republican party to ensure and maintain support for global health programs. 

As Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, Senator Graham supported robust U.S. funding for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, and global health security, recognizing the important role these investments play in advancing health and development outcomes globally. He knew the importance role health and development programs in creating safer and more stable environments around the world. 

Senator Graham’s legacy will be reflected in the transformative policies and programmes he supported, including his efforts to advance the global HIV response. His commitment to public service and bipartisan engagement contributed to global progress that has benefited countries and communities around the world. May his memory inspire bipartisan commitment for continued U.S. leadership in global efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. 

UNAIDS Brazil and Africa Creative have been awarded a Bronze Lion in the Social & Creator category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the Cover It campaign (Proibidão Protegidão, in Brazilian Portuguese), which uses the popularity of Brazilian funk music to expand the conversation on HIV prevention. 

The award ceremony took place at the end of June in Cannes, France. The campaign was also shortlisted in the Audio & Radio and Media categories. 

Launched in April, the campaign uses Brazilian funk music, one of the ten most popular genres in Brazil, to strengthen HIV prevention messaging among young people which, according to Brazil's Ministry of Health  account for approximately 49% of all new HIV infections in the country. 

Brazilian funk is known for its explicit lyrics and strong connection to the urban peripheries and has a growing influence among Generation Z. Through a powerful visual campaign, UNAIDS and Africa Creative are bringing HIV prevention messages into a cultural space where sexuality is already openly expressed, but where information promoting autonomy, protection and informed choices about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is not always available. 

The campaign features some of Brazil's most popular funk tracks, including "Fazer Falta" by MC Livinho, with more than 230 million streams; "Flauta" by MC Mari, with over 10 million streams; "Vínculo Nenhum" by MC Davi, with more than 10 million streams; and "Empurra Empurra" by MC Drika, with more than 27 million streams. 

"Our partnership with UNAIDS is an example of advertising's public value. By bringing an issue into the public spotlight, the campaign demonstrates how creative ideas can raise awareness and inspire positive behavioural change," said Raphael Vandystadt, Vice President of Sustainability at Africa Creative.  

Often referred to as the "Oscars of Advertising," the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recognizes outstanding campaigns, ideas, and innovations across communications, design, technology, and digital media.  

“This award highlights that HIV prevention and the protection of human rights are not only health issues, they are also communication issues that require messages tailored to different audiences. We must continue developing new ways of communicating if we are to achieve a comprehensive HIV response," said Andrea Boccardi Vidarte, UNAIDS Country Director and Representative in Brazil. 

UNAIDS’ campaigns have previously been recognized at the Cannes Lions Festival. In 2022, the campaigns "The Mirror – See Me As I Am" and "Unbox Me" received awards, with “Unbox Me” winning three Cannes Lions Awards. In 2023, Unbox Me was shortlisted once again and received three Spikes Asia Awards. The 2026 edition marks the first time that an initiative led by UNAIDS Brazil has been nominated at the Cannes Lions. 

Proibidão Protegidão campaign playlist

On 22-23 June 2026, UN Member States convened at the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting in New York to consider and agree a new Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. The agreement sets out the global priorities, targets and actions that will guide the HIV response over the next five years and accelerate progress towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. 

The 2026 UN Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS was adopted by an overwhelming majority of Member States, with 149 votes in favour, 8 against and 14 abstentions. 

Note: References in parentheses (e.g. P60) refer to the corresponding paragraph numbers in the 2026 UN Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. 

The following highlights the key aspects of the 2026 UN Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS:  

Topline Targets of the 2026 Political Declaration 

By adopting a new Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS that reflects the targets of UNAIDS’ Global AIDS Strategy 2026–2031, Member States endorsed new, bold commitments that, if fully achieved, will avert an additional 3.2 million new HIV infections and 1.3 million AIDS-related deaths by 2030.  

The 2026 Political Declaration includes all 16 of the 2030 targets contained in the Global AIDS Strategy 2026-2031, as well as additional new targets agreed by Member States. These targets include: 

• Treatment and prevention scale-up: Two critical, new global milestones: reaching 40 million people living with HIV with life-saving HIV treatment – including 38 million with a supressed viral load - (P60) and 20 million people with ARV-based prevention by 2030 (P57). 

• Reaffirming the 95-95-95 targets: Recommits to the 95-95-95 targets for HIV testing, treatment and viral suppression by 2030 (P61).
• Securing sustainable financing: A new global financing commitment of US$21.9 billion annually by 2030 (P48b), backed by explicit pledges to sustain domestic and international funding and minimize out-of-pocket health expenditures (P46).
• Ensuring the protection of human rights, including gender equality, and ending HIV-related stigma, discrimination and violence: A renewed commitment – with specific, measurable targets – to protect human rights, achieve gender equality, empower all women and girls and end HIV-related stigma, discrimination and violence (P73).
• Achieving the 2030 targets for rates of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths:   A recommitment to a 90% reduction in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths by 2030 (P90) – the agreed definition for ending AIDS as a public health threat after which countries can move from mitigating an epidemic to managing chronic disease - a different, more manageable, mission.  

Core Pillars of the 2026 Political Declaration 

1. Advancing people-centered HIV prevention and treatment for people living with, affected by or at risk of HIV 

• Comprehensive prevention: New, measurable target to ensure 90% of all people in need are reached with effective prevention options, including condoms, PrEP and harm reduction (P56).
• Explicit focus on key populations: Places greater, explicit emphasis on key populations across all areas of the HIV response, acknowledging that ending AIDS is impossible without reaching and empowering these communities (P58).
• Gender equality, empowering women and girls: Reaffirms the structural necessity of reaching women and girls with comprehensive education and fulfilling all human rights for women and girls, including their sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights (P59).
• Eliminating vertical transmission: Includes bold targets to achieve the elimination of vertical transmission of HIV and to end pediatric AIDS and ensures comprehensive care for women and children living with HIV (P69). 

2.  Community leadership, equity and rights 

• Empowering communities: Formally reinforces community-led responses by committing to expanded social contracting and community-led monitoring supported by increased funding. Also calls for institutionalizing the 30-80-60 targets for community-delivered services (P94).
• Protecting civic space and human rights: Newly commits to enabling a civic space for civil society and recommits to the 10-10-10 targets calling for the lifting of HIV-related stigma and discrimination, punitive legal barriers and violence against women and key populations (P73). 

3. Access to medicines, integration and accountability  

• Access to medicines and technology Transfer: Commits to ensuring the global accessibility, availability and affordability of quality-assured HIV medicines, diagnostics, vaccines and other essential health technologies through tailored technical assistance and technology transfer (P85), while also supporting the rapid scale-up of innovations, including long-acting formulations (P68).
• Integration: Introduces an ambitious integration agenda with new targets for integrating HIV services into maternal, child, and sexual/reproductive health services, alongside integrated HIV/TB services to sharply reduce TB-related deaths (P65).
• Scientific discovery: Outlines a full agenda and commitment to advance long-term scientific research for an HIV vaccine and a cure (P51).
• Data and accountability: Commits to strengthening disaggregated data and accountability systems at country level, including through investment in community-led monitoring (P54). 

4. Financing the Future of the HIV Response 

• Scaling-up sustainable financing: Commits to mobilize $21.9 billion annually by 2030 for HIV in low- and middle-income countries (P48b), through predictable, adequate and diversified funding from domestic and international sources (P48).
• Closing critical funding gaps: Prioritizes fully financing HIV prevention and societal enablers, recognizing that prevention is essential to ending AIDS (P49), and strengthens HIV financing for community-led responses (P54, P94).
• Strengthening domestic investment and transition: Supports sustainable financing models to enable a gradual shift toward domestic funding without disrupting services, with reduction of out-of-pocket expenditures and advancement of universal health coverage, and promotion of national health sovereignty (P50). 

5. Renewed Support for Multilateralism 

• International Partners: The 2026 Political Declaration recognizes the leading role played by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in coordination, technical cooperation, monitoring and support to national AIDS responses over the last 30 years (P9a), as well as achievements of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Unitaid and their partners in financing the implementation of country-led HIV responses (P9b).
• Annual Reporting and HLM 2031: Commits Member States to submit annual progress reports to UNAIDS, using robust, disaggregated data to pinpoint gaps in service coverage and HIV response outcomes (P97), and convene the next UNGA high-level meeting in 2031 to review progress (P100). 

Brazilian LGBTQIA+ organizations participating in the Pride Parade, led by the São Paulo LGBT Pride Association (APOLGBT-SP), have called for universal access to lenacapavir. The twice yearly long-acting injectable medication is considered one of the most significant innovations in HIV prevention and treatment. Lenacapavir has demonstrated nearly 100% efficacy in preventing HIV. 

These organizations are stressing that the anticipated high cost of the antiretroviral drug could prevent its incorporation into Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS), potentially deepening inequalities and undermining the country’s response to the HIV epidemic.  

“One of our priorities is to foster discussion around crucial scientific innovations such as lenacapavir, ensuring that it reaches those who need it most,” said Nelson Matias Pereira, President of APOLGBT-SP. 

The public manifesto emphasizes that access to health, science, and prevention technologies is a fundamental human right. It also warns about the disproportionate impact of the epidemic on historically marginalized populations, including gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender people, sex workers, and other key populations that have long faced social vulnerability.  

According to data from Brazil’s Ministry of Health, published in the 2025 HIV and AIDS Epidemiological Bulletin, Brazil recorded a 21.9% increase in new HIV infections between 2014 and 2024. According to UNAIDS, in Latin America, new HIV infections increased by 13% between 2010 and 2024, with approximately 120,000 new HIV infections reported in 2025 alone. An estimated 66% of these cases occurred among key populations and their sexual partners.  

The signatories of the manifesto also note that Brazil was one of the countries that participated in the lenacapavir clinical trials, yet the country was excluded from voluntary licensing agreements that would allow the production of more affordable generic versions of the product.  

“It is unacceptable that Brazil, which directly contributed to the clinical trials of this medication through Brazilian individuals and communities, has been excluded from voluntary licensing agreements and remains hostage to prices that make its incorporation into the SUS unfeasible.  We cannot accept commercial barriers and patent restrictions that hinder access to HIV prevention and treatment,” said Mr Pereira.  

For Federal Congresswoman Duda Salabert reason more to advocate for full lenacapavir access through the health system.  “Patents play an important role in science, but there are moments in history when they must be weighed against a greater collective good through the public interest. The issue, of course, is the price,” she said. “I reject the idea that someone should be unable to live because they cannot afford treatment. That is why our office has taken up this cause and will continue fighting for access through the SUS,” added Ms Salabert. 

The manifesto is calling for urgent action from Gilead Sciences and Brazil’s Ministry of Health. Their demands include:  

• Continued access to lenacapavir for Brazilian participants in clinical studies; 
• Immediate inclusion of Brazil in voluntary licensing agreements; 
• Transparency in pricing negotiations; 
• Pricing that is compatible with the long-term sustainability of the SUS; 
• Meaningful participation of the most affected communities in decision-making processes; and 
• Consideration of compulsory licensing should patent-related barriers and excessive pricing persist.  

They also want the Ministry of Health to commission studies by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) on the feasibility of public production of lenacapavir and other long-acting technologies for HIV prevention and treatment.  

Despite more than two decades of medical practice under her belt, Bouchra Assarag still revels going out in the field.  

“The blind spots are women and girls especially in rural areas,” the Moroccan doctor said. She commended the Moroccan government for advancing on sexual and reproductive health and the low HIV incidence rate (0.08% among general population.) However she tirelessly leads workshops for parents and young people in the far reaches of her native Northern African country.  

“My fight is not over,” she said insisting on not calling her a doctor but an activist. “For one child marriages are still occurring as families use legal loopholes, citing tradition and cultural practices.” In Morocco, 14% of girls marry before their 18th birthday, according to the non-governmental organization, Child Marriage Monitoring Mechanism.  

As president of “Ensemble pour les droits à la santé sexuelle et reproductive,” EDSSR, (Together for the Right to Sexual and Reproductive Health) an organization that defends sexual health and rights in Morocco and Francophone Africa, a big portion of the work involves reaching and educating vulnerable populations. 

“I don’t criticize anyone and am very sensitive to everyone’s plight like economic pressures and feeding one’s family, but my message stays the same,” Ms Assarag said. “The more you educate young people, the healthier they will be. Health is a human right.”  

Driving long distances to remote areas does not dissuade her and she adjusts her ways. “They see me as coming from the big city of Casablanca so even I need to be mindful and extremely cautious about this for the various activities to work, communication is key,” she explained. 

Adding to the organization's woes is the amount of misinformation being distributed on the internet and on social media. "Young people in Morocco and, I think, around the world, fear judgement so instead of asking the health worker or family about a condom, they bury themselves in social media,” she said. “It’s a catastrophe especially as anti-sexual education campaigns tend to go viral.” 

The Global AIDS Strategy 2026-2031 states that prevention of sexual transmission of HIV is closely linked to efforts to avoid unintentional pregnancies and acquisition of other sexually transmitted infections. Key to ending AIDS is upholding the rights of women and girls and reducing the inequalities that drive the epidemic.  

“Service uptake and impact tend to be higher when HIV prevention is embedded in broader sexual and reproductive health services, is free from stigma and supported by community leadership,” said Mary Mahy, Director of Data for Impact and a co-writer of the latest UNAIDS report, ‘United to End AIDS.’ 

UNAIDS Country Director Houssine El Rilhani commends Ms Assarag’s work. "Tailored community outreach, comprehensive sexuality education and rights-based sexual and reproductive health services are essential to sustain progress and ensure that populations living in rural or underserved areas get the attention and services they deserve.”  

Ms Assarag has added another initiative to her long resumé. 

Her organization has joined forces with the Moroccan Ministry of Health and Social Protection in putting together workshops around menstrual pain. “Again, we were faced with the same issues ranging from cultural taboo and a complete lack of information despite this affecting many women and girls,” she said.    

Fighting injustices has motivated her from a young age. She remembers not understanding why her neighbour stayed with her husband despite him physically abusing her. She was also witness to stigma and discrimination as a young medical doctor when sex workers came in to be treated. “I am so grateful that the head doctor, my mentor, inspired me and showed great compassion to all, without prejudice or discrimination.” 

Her current worry now is making sure that trained future health care workers can tackle the many health inequities. “In addition to the Master’s programme in Public Health, the training of health professionals within institutions in Morocco now includes modules on sexual and reproductive health, so I am optimistic,” she explains. Her teaching in these institutions places human rights and gender at the core of the curriculum. 

“I stress autonomy for all and equality for men and women,” she said. 

Three years ago, Adjovi Husunukpe co-founded the Western and Central African HIV+ Youth Network (RAJ+AOC) to connect with her peers and strengthen youth-led advocacy in the HIV response. “We wanted to be heard at a national and international level as one,” she said.   

The network known for its top-notch community outreach and linkage to care now has nearly 500 members across 14 countries but has hit some recent roadblocks.  

“We are all volunteers and are scraping by financially so it’s hard to project ourselves as individuals and as an organization,” said the Togolese born Ms Husunukpe. 

2025 saw a steep decrease in funding which specially affected community-led organizations. That meant a number of things for RAJ+AOC. They have to compete with other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for financial support but are not considered equally.  

“People keep saying we are not legitimate because we are young people, which is unfair and untrue,” she said.  

On top of that, she said, HIV prevention and hard-fought youth-oriented programmes seem to have disintegrated into thin air. UNAIDS June Global AIDS report states that community-led organizations are often the last organizations to be funded by domestic resources and consequently have been some of the first to experience the impact of the 2025 international funding cuts. 

Adding to her worries may also be the loss of technical support from UNAIDS as country offices merge in the region.  

“We keep being told that we represent 60% of the population of the African continent but our sustainability hangs in the balance,” Ms Husunukpe said. 

Having been born with HIV and lost her parents at a young age, the 27-year-old argues that lived experience should be recognized as expertise. She and other youth leaders call for youth-led organizations to be meaningfully integrated into health policy and decision-making spaces. 

“We are invited to speak but are rarely included in drafting recommendations or shaping decisions,” the sociology student said. “Let us co-lead initiatives that respond to our real needs.” 

UNAIDS Regional HIV and Public Health Adviser, Ange-Valérie Meralli-Ballou, based in Dakar, said the data is clear. In 2025, 160,000 adolescent girls and young women acquired HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, 35% of all child HIV infections now occur in western and central Africa. Most of these infections are attributable to limited access to integrated sexual and reproductive health and rights services for youth and pregnant women. "We cannot continue to exclude the majority of the population and expect results," she said. 

In her mind, youth-led NGOs are not only willing but structurally positioned to integrate health systems if given the money and decision-making powers to do so. 

The Global AIDS Strategy 2026-2031 calls for promoting the creation and integration of community health centres, managed by local actors and community organizations in the region. It also strongly encourages countries to conduct communication campaigns using social media to raise HIV awareness. 

Pointing outside to young people gathered on a staircase with her outstretched right hand, Ms Meralli-Ballou said, “This strategy is a political tool or a roadmap if you will so let us use it to leverage resources, sustain youth engagement and agency, and build that future now.” 

History was made in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa on Friday, 5 June, as 21-year-old Jane Mndebele became the first person to receive lenacapavir, the twice-yearly HIV prevention injectable, as part of the country's new national prevention programme. 

"I am excited," she said, after the injection was administered by Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi himself. Her words captured the mood of thousands gathered at Lilian Ngoyi Stadium in Secunda, and of a global health community that has waited years for this moment.

South Africa, home to the world's largest HIV epidemic with an estimated 7.9 million people living with the virus, officially launched the national rollout of lenacapavir, becoming the ninth African country to do so. 

"The launch of lenacapavir marks a turning point in our nation's fight against HIV. It represents the triumph of science over despair. It represents the power of innovation to save lives," said President Cyril Ramaphosa. He was careful, however, to frame the injection as one tool among many. "It is one more powerful tool in our arsenal. It complements HIV testing, oral PrEP, treatment as prevention, condoms, voluntary medical male circumcision, and behavioural interventions."

Lenacapavir is a powerful new option, but it works best as part of a broader package. UNAIDS stresses that the injection must be integrated alongside condoms, family planning, sexual and reproductive health services, and community-based HIV prevention programmes. Evidence from programmes such as DREAMS has shown that when HIV prevention is combined with education, economic opportunity, protection from violence, and safe spaces for young women, the results are transformative. UNAIDS data shows that girls who complete secondary education have a 50% lower risk of HIV infection.

The stakes are stark. South Africa recorded approximately 150,000 new HIV infections in 2024, with women and girls accounting for 59% of those. Over 71,000 were among adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 24, equivalent to more than 1,000 newly infected young women every week. The government's decision to prioritise this group in the rollout of lenacapavir is both welcome and significant.

Alankar Malviya, UNAIDS Multi-Country Director for South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, welcomed the commitment. "President Ramaphosa has demonstrated political will to continue on a path to transform the HIV response. We welcome the prioritisation of adolescent girls and young women, men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who use drugs," he said, adding that UNAIDS welcomes ongoing discussions between Gilead Sciences and the government to explore local generic production.

For UNAIDS, the launch is both a milestone and a call to action. "Today is a day many of us here in South Africa have waited for," said Anne Githuku-Shongwe, UNAIDS Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa. "For many of us who have worked in the HIV response, this moment feels almost unimaginable. Now we must make sure that this breakthrough does not become another example of scientific success and implementation failure."

The rollout begins at 360 public health facilities across six provinces and 24 high-burden districts, with a national target to reach close to one million people by end of 2027, and three million within three years. A combined investment of R1.3 billion from the Global Fund and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, alongside government funding, will support the programme. Generic versions of lenacapavir are expected from 2027 at around USD 40 per person per year, a dramatic reduction from the tens of thousands of dollars charged in high-income countries, though affordability at scale remains a challenge for many countries facing shrinking health budgets.

For now, Jane Mndebele and the thousands of South Africans who will follow her to clinics in the coming weeks represent something real and hard-won: proof that with political courage, community partnership, and sustained investment, scientific progress can be made to serve the people who need it most.

More than 20 years ago, when Seum Sophal learned he was living with HIV, he saw little reason for hope. Stigma was widespread and treatment options were limited. 

“I was ready to die,” he recalled. “I was worried about what would happen to my young son after I was gone.” 

Today, Mr Sophal, an officer with the Forum of Networks of People Living with HIV and Key Populations (FoNPAMs) at the Health Action Coordinating Committee (HACC), speaks with pride and emotion about Cambodia’s achievement of the 95–95–95 HIV treatment targets. 

For him, the achievement is not only a national triumph, but also recognition of the years of work and commitment invested by communities, including his own.  

It also reflects on the success of a partnership in which each actor took responsibility and delivered: the government expanded access to HIV testing and treatment, communities reached the people most affected by HIV and helped improve services, and international partners provided technical and financial support. 

Together, these efforts have brought Cambodia to achieve the 95–95–95 targets: 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95% of those diagnosed are receiving antiretroviral treatment and 95% of people on treatment have achieved viral suppression. 

Mr Sophal’s own contribution began shortly after his diagnosis, when he started volunteering with Salvation Centre Cambodia, a local organization providing home-based support to people living with HIV. 

“I went from home to home, encouraging people to get tested, start treatment and remain in care,” he said. 

At a time when stigma and fear prevented many people from seeking health services, community workers provided information, accompanied people to clinics and helped families cope with the practical and emotional effects of HIV. Mr Sophal believes that timely community support helped many people survive. 

He has also seen that support continues across generations. Children assisted by the organization more than 20 years ago are now adults, and some have become volunteers themselves. 

“It is community support passed from one generation to the next,” he said. 

The contribution of communities to the 95-95-95 targets has extended beyond helping individuals access services. Community representatives have brought people’s experiences to health workers and decision-makers, challenged discriminatory treatment and advocated for practical changes in the way services are delivered. 

Community feedback has contributed to longer clinic opening hours, peer counselling, multi-month dispensing of antiretroviral medicines and more accessible testing options. These changes have made it easier for people to start treatment and remain in care while managing work and family responsibilities. 

Mr Sophal is also proud of community advocacy to strengthen social protection for people living with HIV. 

Although HIV treatment in Cambodia is free, poverty, unstable employment, food insecurity and the cost of travelling to health facilities is still challenging.  

Community organisations have advocated for eligible people living with HIV to be connected to Cambodia’s IDPoor system- which identifies and registers households living in poverty. Those who qualify can receive Equity Cards, providing access to free public healthcare through the Health Equity Fund, as well as cash transfers and other forms of social assistance. 

However, Cambodia’s achievement does not mean that the HIV epidemic is over.  

“This achievement is a source of national pride, but it also comes with responsibility,” said Ieng Mouly, Senior Minister and Chair of the National AIDS Authority. “Our task now is to protect and sustain this progress through stronger country ownership and increased domestic investment in the national HIV response.” 

Cambodia’s 95-95-95 announcement comes at a critical time for the global HIV response. The UNAIDS Global AIDS Brief, released on 12 June 2026, warns that cuts in external financing, underinvestment in HIV prevention and community-led services, and growing restrictions on human rights and civic space could reverse hard-won gains. 

Community-led organizations are under particular financial pressure.  

“As external resources become more uncertain, protecting these gains will require sustained political leadership and investment in the fundamental elements of a multisectoral and collaborative HIV response,” said Patricia Ongpin, UNAIDS Country Director for Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Viet Nam.  

Mr Sophal welcomes the Cambodian Government’s growing investment in the HIV response, but says a sustainable mechanism is also needed to fund community organizations from domestic resources. Social contracting - through which the government finances community groups to deliver agreed services - could help protect the outreach, trust and local knowledge that contributed to Cambodia’s achievement.  

“As the first country in Asia and the Pacific to achieve the 95-95-95 targets, Cambodia sends a clear message to the region and the world: ending AIDS is possible when governments work closely with communities and keep people at the center of the response” said Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.  

For Mr Sophal, to end AIDS, the response needs to focus on the people who remain most affected by HIV. 

“If I were addressing heads of state at the United Nations General Assembly, I would ask them to remain focused on key populations,” he said. “They are among the people most affected by HIV and must not be left behind. If we protect their health and rights, we can end AIDS. My second message would be: continue investing in communities.” 

When Jeremy Tan from Youth LEAD talks about HIV prevention among young people, he starts with where you can actually find them: online, in private messages, on dating apps and in community spaces. 

“We know how to use social media not just for entertainment but for real outreach,” said Mr Tan. “We know the trends, the language and the trust dynamics of those spaces. A government billboard cannot do that.” 

That kind of trust can help young people ask questions, consider pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP – medicine to prevent HIV), take an HIV test or stay connected to treatment and care.  

“A peer on a dating app who says, ‘By the way, PrEP is an option,’ can change someone’s perspective in seconds,” he said. 

This is what HIV prevention for young people looks like today: youth-led outreach that meets them where they are, speaks in language they trust, and works with government and clinic-based services to connect them to prevention, testing, treatment and care. 

In 2010, ahead of World AIDS Day, UNAIDS launched the #PreventionRevolution campaign, a social media initiative calling on people everywhere to learn, speak out and mobilise around HIV prevention.  

Twitter, now X, was still young. People across continents shared facts, personal stories, and calls to action. Some called it “edutweeting” - education through tweeting. 

But the idea was bigger than a hashtag. It was about making HIV prevention visible, people-driven and urgent. 

More than 15 years later, that call remains urgent, but the prevention landscape has changed. There are more prevention tools, more digital ways to reach people and more evidence of what works.  

However, HIV prevention services are still not reaching enough young people. 

In Asia and the Pacific, new HIV infections have fallen by only 17% since 2010, and several countries, including Afghanistan, Fiji, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, are experiencing fast-growing epidemics. 

Young people are among those most affected. In the Philippines, new HIV infections among young people increased more than sixfold between 2010 and 2024. In Fiji, the rise was even sharper - 28-fold over the same period, with young people also affected by the rapid increase in infections linked to injecting drug use. 

Since 2010, the HIV prevention toolbox has expanded: condoms, oral PrEP, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), HIV self-testing, harm reduction, the dapivirine vaginal ring and emerging long-acting injectable PrEP. But having more tools is not the same as making them accessible, trusted and usable for young people. 

Khin Cho Win Htin, UNAIDS Regional Adviser on HIV Prevention, says today’s prevention revolution must be about choice, access and services designed around people’s realities. 

“People do not live one-size-fits-all lives,” she said. “Different people need different tools at different moments in their lives.” 

A young person using drugs may need harm reduction services, PrEP and mental health support. Someone afraid to visit a health facility may first need an HIV self-test they can access privately. 

Across the region, youth-led organisations are helping turn that toolbox into something young people can understand, trust and use. 

In Viet Nam, Lighthouse Social Enterprise helped run the “K=K” campaign, the Vietnamese version of U=U, or undetectable equals untransmittable. Using Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, the campaign explained PrEP, U=U and HIV prevention in ways that felt normal rather than frightening. Instead of waiting for young people to come to a clinic, the campaign met them on their phones. 

In the Philippines, Wagayway Equality created the Equality Desk in Batangas City with support from the local government. The space supports young people, LGBTQI+ communities and people living with HIV with HIV screening, treatment referrals, legal services and other support. The information gathered through the desk is also used to advocate for better budgets and stronger local HIV responses. 

In Malaysia, youth-led organisations such as JEJAKA have worked with the government as PrEP navigators, helping guide and enroll community members into the national PrEP programme. 

These initiatives are not only about raising awareness.  They show how young people can make HIV prevention more practical, trusted and connected to services. 

But youth-led approaches need policy and financing support. 

“Young people know where their peers are, what they are afraid of and what kind of support will feel safe,” said Michela Polesana, UNAIDS Regional Adviser for Community-Led Responses. “But too often, laws, policies and funding systems stand in their way. Governments need to recognise youth- and community-led services as essential and create the conditions for them to work safely and sustainably.” 

This also means funding for scale up. Many youth-led prevention initiatives still depend on short-term or external support. As financing becomes less predictable, countries need to invest in the approaches that are already reaching young people, from digital outreach and PrEP navigation to peer support, testing referrals and community-based information. 

The call is also gaining political momentum. At the recent Asia-Pacific Regional Dialogue ahead of the 2026 High-Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS, Atonio Lalabalavu, Fiji’s Minister for Health and Medical Services, called for a prevention revolution in the Pacific, highlighting youth-friendly services, comprehensive sexuality education, harm reduction and action to end stigma and discrimination as essential to getting HIV prevention back on track. 

Ahead of the June 2026 High-Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS, this youth-led experience carries a clear message: HIV prevention must move beyond tools and targets to real choices that young people can access and use, and youth-led organisations must be recognised, supported and funded as partners in the HIV response. 

UNAIDS, in collaboration with Avenir Health, has launched a new online tool to support countries to estimate the financial resources required to achieve the objectives set in their national AIDS plans. 

At a time of increasing pressure on global HIV financing, the tool provides countries with a practical, data-driven platform to inform strategic planning, funding applications, and to foster dialogue on domestic resource mobilization.

The Resource Needs estimation Tool enables users to estimate the financial resources required to reach coverage targets across key HIV programmes, including HIV prevention, testing, treatment, co-morbidities, health systems strengthening, and programme management. Covering 30 expenditure categories, the model draws on a database for 118 low- and middle-income countries, incorporating population data, current coverage levels, and unit costs.

By default, the model applies 2030 coverage targets, in line with the 2030 Global Targets to end AIDS, while allowing countries to fully customize inputs to reflect national strategies and priorities.". Outputs of the tool include annual estimates of people reached, financial needs by intervention and year, and requirements for 13 key HIV related health products/commodities.

The tool is already being used in several countries to support HIV costing exercises and Global Fund funding requests,including Mozambique, Eswatini, Viet Nam, Thailand, Kenya, and South Sudan.

Country ownership 

While the tool provides a robust analytical framework and curated datasets, countries are encouraged to validate all inputs and interpret results in line with local realities. This ensures that estimates remain grounded in national contexts and can be effectively used to inform policy and financing decisions. UNAIDS can provide targeted technical support, upon request and based on country context and needs, to facilitate use of the tool and interpretation of results.

By equipping countries with accessible and customizable tools, UNAIDS and Avenir Health aim to support stronger, evidence-based planning and more informed decision-making on HIV investments. 

“As countries face increasing financing pressures and the need to optimize limited HIV resources, country-led and adaptable approaches to resource needs estimation are becoming increasingly important to support evidence-based prioritization, sustainability planning, and progress towards ending AIDS,” noted Jaime Atienza, UNAIDS Director, Sustainability Practice.

The launch of the Resource Needs Estimation Tool complements UNAIDS’ broader work to strengthen HIV financing analytics, including the HIV Financial Dashboard, which offers detailed data on HIV spending and funding trends.

“The tool helps countries under constrained financing environments to generate strategic costing evidence to strengthen financing decisions. Planned enhancements will expand sub-national costing, customization of community-led service delivery modalities, and integration of societal enablers into costing analyses,” added Deepak Mattur, UNAIDS Senior Advisor on Resource Tracking and Health Products Monitoring and technical focal point for the Resource Needs Estimation Tool.