With Just 70 Months Left to End AIDS, Global Efforts Fall Dangerously Behind
As the world enters the final stretch to meet the 2030 deadline to end AIDS, health experts are sounding the alarm: global progress is off-track, and urgency is waning. Despite pledges made under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to “leave no one behind,” recent data reveals that many countries are missing critical HIV prevention and treatment targets—putting millions of lives at continued risk.
In 2023 alone, 1.3 million people were newly diagnosed with HIV—more than three times the global target of fewer than 370,000 annual new infections by 2025. Meanwhile, over 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses, far exceeding the promised goal of reducing deaths to below 250,000 within the same timeframe.
“This is a call to action. Every preventable HIV infection or AIDS-related death is a reminder that our leaders are falling short,” said Dr Ishwar Gilada, a leading HIV specialist and member of the International AIDS Society. “We need accountability and course correction if we’re serious about ending AIDS.”
The urgency for a rights-based, community-led response echoed through the 16th National Conference of AIDS Society of India (ASICON 2025), where UNAIDS India Director David Bridger emphasized that while the tools to end AIDS exist—including antiretroviral therapy, HIV self-testing, and PrEP—the political will and investment remain insufficient.
In the Asia Pacific region, only 78% of people with HIV know their status, 67% of those are on treatment, and just 65% are virally suppressed—far below the 95-95-95 targets. Six countries, including Bangladesh and the Philippines, are witnessing growing epidemics, while nine, including Indonesia and Mongolia, report rising AIDS-related deaths.
“Asia Pacific contributes to a quarter of all new HIV infections worldwide. If we don’t get it right here—especially in India, which has the second largest number of people living with HIV—we won’t meet global targets,” warned Bridger.
Access to prevention among key populations remains limited. Only 21% of people who inject drugs and 31% of men who have sex with men have access to HIV services. Meanwhile, uptake of PrEP—a highly effective preventive medicine—lags far behind, reaching just 2.5% of the 2025 regional target.
Bridger urged countries to dismantle legal and structural barriers fueling stigma, discrimination, and inequality. “We must modernize service delivery, invest in prevention, and center our responses around the communities most affected.”
With only 70 months left, health leaders say the world has a choice: continue business as usual—or boldly act now to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
