The United Nations has warned that no country is currently on track to meet the 2025 Triple 10 HIV Targets, as the world marks World AIDS Day 2025.

The alarm was raised by Acting Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr Haoliang Xu, who said global progress toward ending AIDS is at risk of reversing without urgent action.

Speaking under the theme “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response,”  Xu said gains made over decades are being eroded by shrinking financing, conflict, climate shocks and widening inequality.

He noted that the Triple 10 Targets— eliminating HIV-related stigma, discrimination, gender-based violence, inequalities and harmful laws—are slipping further out of reach.

“Chronic underinvestment in prevention, overreliance on external aid and persistent stigma continue to hold us back,” Xu said.

Despite global setbacks, the UN highlighted pockets of progress driven by rights-based reforms and community leadership:

• Namibia and Angola have advanced legal reforms that protect access to HIV services.
• Kazakhstan is expanding government-backed, community-led prevention and legal support.
• Pakistan is connecting thousands to self-testing and care through a digital platform co-designed with key populations.

Xu said these examples demonstrate the “determination and innovation” at the heart of the HIV response.

The UN emphasised that long-acting HIV prevention medicines offer a major opportunity to curb new infections—if countries remove structural barriers.

A key initiative is the partnership to supply generic lenacapavir for US$40 per year to 120 low- and middle-income countries by 2027.

Xu said this shows “how science and solidarity can expand access at scale,” but warned that stronger, more inclusive health systems are essential for equitable rollout.

For more than 30 years, UNDP has worked on the governance and inequality issues that shape the HIV epidemic. This year, it reaffirmed its commitment to working with UNAIDS, WHO, governments, civil society and the Global Fund.

“This World AIDS Day, we reaffirm that every life matters,” Xu said, affirming that “Together, we can turn disruption into action— and hope into health for all.”