Mirroring this broader trend, funding for UNAIDS and its critical work in leading the global HIV response has been decreasing for some time. The immediate funding situation has also recently been significantly exacerbated by inflationary pressures and currency fluctuations. In 2022 alone, UNAIDS faced a funding gap of US$ 44.5 million.

Nevertheless, ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is eminently achievable and affordable – indeed, doing so will cost much less money than if we fail. The new Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026 requires that annual HIV investments in low- and middle-income countries rise to a peak of US$ 29 billion (constant 2019 dollars) by 2025 to put the world on track to end AIDS by 2030. Investing too little, too late will not only worsen the HIV epidemic and mean that ambitious targets will not be met, but will further add to the long-term costs of the HIV response. However, fully funding the 2025 resource targets and using those resources to implement the Global AIDS Strategy efficiently will halt year-on-year growth in resource needs after 2025. Importantly, too, the actions needed to end AIDS will also better prepare the world to protect itself against the threats of future pandemics.

The vision of this Strategy is to reverse the dire lack of HIV resources; to reignite solidarity; and to secure investment for UNAIDS as the leader of the global HIV response, charting a considered course to deliver US$ 210 million per year to fully fund the UBRAF.