Around the world, communities, governments, civil society, the private sector and global health partners have worked together to make extraordinary progress in the fight against HIV.
But human rights and gender equality are under attack – with devastating consequences for the HIV response.
Inequity, gender inequality and human rights violations are making people more vulnerable to HIV infection, more likely to experience poorer health outcomes, and less likely to access lifesaving health services. The rights of LGBTQI+ people, sex workers and people who use drugs are being undermined by legislation and policies that fuel discrimination, stigma and violence.
Dismantling these barriers is the only way to end AIDS as a public health threat and build a safer, healthier, and more equitable world for all.
The Global Fund partnership is committed to a holistic, rights-based approach to health with communities affected by HIV in the lead. The results speak for themselves. Since 2002, AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 73% and new HIV infections have gone down by 61% in countries where the Global Fund invests.
But our fight isn’t over. It is impossible to defeat HIV while denying the rights of the key populations most at risk. This World AIDS Day it is time to break down human rights barriers to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
#WorldAIDSDay #Human Rights
Table of Contents
State of the Fight Against HIV - Key Results
Key Messages
Namibia – Comprehensive HIV Services Change Young People’s Lives
Kenya – Integrated HIV Care Supports Mothers-to-Be and Newborns
Breaking Down Barriers
Multimedia Resources
Social Media Messages
Data Explorer
Information Resources
"Ending the HIV epidemic isn’t just about infections averted, it’s about potential unleashed."
Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund
State of the Fight: HIV
Key Results for 2023 in countries where the Global Fund invests:
25 million people on antiretroviral therapy for HIV.
53.8 million HIV tests taken (13.1 million by priority and key populations).
17.9 million people reached with HIV prevention services (8 million people from key populations).
695,000 mothers living with HIV received medicine to keep them alive and prevent transmitting HIV to their babies.
925,000 voluntary medical male circumcisions performed for HIV prevention.
322,000 people initiated oral antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis.
"To get back on track and end AIDS as a public health threat once and for all will take more money and better science, but above all, it will take unswerving commitment to tackle the inequalities that fuel the epidemic. That’s a challenge we can and must rise to."
Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund
Key Messages
HIV remains a deadly global health threat.
In 2023, over 630,000 people died from an AIDS-related illness. This cannot continue. We have both the knowledge and the tools to prevent every new HIV infection and each AIDS-related death. We must act now to finally overcome this disease that millions of people continue to suffer from every year.
We are living through an alarming rollback of human rights and gender equality globally – with devastating consequences for the HIV response.
Inequity, human rights violations and gender inequality can make people more vulnerable to infection, more likely to experience poorer health outcomes, and make it harder to access HIV services.
The rights of LGBTQI+ people, people who use drugs, and sex workers are being undermined through legislation and policies that fuel discrimination, stigma and violence. It is impossible to defeat HIV while denying the rights of the key populations most at risk.
Efforts by communities, governments, civil society, the private sector and global health partners have resulted in extraordinary progress in the fight against HIV.
As of 2023, in countries where the Global Fund invests, AIDS-related deaths had been reduced by 73% and new infections had been reduced by 61% since 2002. With continued urgency and global cooperation, we can end AIDS.
The Global Fund supports countries to focus their efforts on locations with high HIV transmission and on people with the greatest HIV prevention needs – key populations and adolescent girls and young women, and their male sexual partners – so they have the tools, knowledge and power to prevent themselves from acquiring HIV.
Innovations in HIV prevention, treatment and care are saving lives.
The many advancements in HIV prevention, treatment and community outreach mean that significantly more people are accessing lifesaving care.
The Global Fund partnership has been pivotal in expanding access to these innovations, ensuring that no one is left behind, and that everyone living with HIV is identified, treated, supported, and has equitable access to services.
Breaking down human rights barriers is essential to ending AIDS for good.
The Global Fund is committed to a holistic, rights-based approach to health. By dismantling barriers to care, and with communities affected by HIV in the lead, we ensure that everyone can access the services they need. This is the only way to end AIDS as a public health threat and build a safer, healthier, and more equitable world for all.
In Namibia, Comprehensive HIV Services Change Young People’s Lives
Ohangwena, Namibia
Despite remarkable progress in the fight against HIV, with 93% of people living with HIV aware of their status, adolescent girls and young women in Namibia are three times more likely to acquire HIV than their male peers.
Youth ambassadors Lazarus and Paulina work with the i-BreakFree program to reach these young people with judgment-free counseling, HIV prevention education, and connections to mental health, legal and social services. They support health care that considers the whole person – addressing physical, mental and emotional well-being, and the obstacles to living safe and healthy lives.
In rural and remote areas where HIV prevalence is highest, every link in the chain – from youth ambassadors to school principals to nurses – represents crucial opportunities for transformation. With Global Fund support, partners in Namibia ensure young people always have someone to turn to.
Social Media: In Namibia, adolescent girls and young women are 3x more likely to acquire HIV than their male peers. But youth ambassadors are bridging critical gaps by providing judgment-free support, referring young people to health services for HIV testing and treatment, and delivering health care that considers the whole person – physical, mental and emotional well-being. #WorldAIDSDay https://ow.ly/oZzf50UeEpc
In Kenya, Integrated HIV, TB and Malaria Care Supports Mothers-To-Be and Newborns
Vihiga County, Kenya
At Kenya's Vihiga County Referral Hospital, health care workers are transforming maternal care by integrating HIV, TB and malaria services into care for mothers and newborns.
The program, supported by the Global Fund and partners, trains health care workers to provide comprehensive care during pregnancy - a critical moment when women regularly seek health care.
Through this integrated approach, nurses test for HIV, screen for TB and malaria and provide prevention tools and treatment. In Vihiga County alone, HIV testing has increased by over a third. The program has trained over 1,200 health workers across Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria, reaching 1.3 million pregnant women and families.
Social Media: In Kenya's Vihiga County Referral Hospital, health care workers are integrating HIV services into maternal care. Since 2021, HIV testing rates have increased by more than a third, helping more mothers-to-be access HIV prevention and treatment so they can protect their health and the health of their babies. #WorldAIDSDay https://ow.ly/ZJ3F50UcwhL
Breaking Down Barriers
24 Countries
Since 2017, the Global Fund’s Breaking Down Barriers initiative has invested over US$200 million in a groundbreaking effort across 24 countries to confront obstacles posed by laws, policies, and practices limiting people's access to health services.
Through financial and technical support, the Global Fund is supporting countries to tackle human rights-related and gender-related barriers to HIV, TB and malaria services.
Investments prioritize stigma and discrimination reduction in health and other settings, increasing legal literacy and access to justice for key and vulnerable populations, and efforts, including community-led efforts, to reform harmful laws, policies and practices.
The Breaking Down Barriers initiative puts in the hands of people affected by HIV, TB and malaria the knowledge and the skills to understand, demand and secure their health-related human rights.
Breaking Down Barriers represents an unprecedented investment in health-related human rights.
Social Media: Attacks on human rights deepen inequities, putting the poorest and most marginalized at greater risk of diseases like HIV, TB & malaria. Since 2017, @GlobalFund has invested over US$200 million in 24 countries through the Breaking Down Barriers initiative to overcome human rights-related barriers to health. https://ow.ly/lk6b50Ucwm1
Multimedia Content and Social Media Messages
Multimedia Content
Social Media Messages
Today is #WorldAIDSDay. It’s time to get back on track to end AIDS as a public health threat once and for all. Working together, we must double-down on our commitment to tackle the inequalities that fuel the epidemic.
Community-led organizations are powerful leaders in the fight to promote gender equality, protect human rights, and challenge harmful and discriminatory laws, policies and practices that keep people from lifesaving services. On #WorldAIDSDay and every day, we must #TakeTheRightsPath.
By taking bold action now, we can get back on track to end AIDS by 2030. Working together, we must increase investments and accelerate efforts to ensure equitable access to treatment and prevention services for all people affected by HIV. #WorldAIDSDay
No one should die because of discrimination. We cannot end AIDS as an epidemic without ensuring that #HumanRights are protected. In the fight to #EndAIDS, we must #LeaveNoOneBehind. #WorldAIDSDay
Inequity, human rights violations and gender inequality make people more vulnerable to HIV infection, more likely to experience poorer health outcomes and less likely to access HIV services. Dismantling these barriers is essential to ending AIDS for good. #WorldAIDSDay
Efforts by communities, activists, governments & global health partners have resulted in extraordinary progress in the fight against HIV. In countries where @GlobalFund invests, AIDS-related deaths have dropped by 73% since 2002. #WorldAIDSDay
In 2023, 25 MILLION people received lifesaving HIV medicine. But growing threats to human rights and gender equality are keeping us off track to end AIDS as an epidemic by 2030. We cannot lose ground. #WorldAIDSDay
Data Explorer
Explore data on investments and results in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria around the world.
The Global Fund invests in smart, effective health programs to end HIV, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. The Data Explorer visualizes where our investments come from, where they are and what they achieve by providing pledge and contribution data, grant financial data and results data at global, regional and country levels.