For the first time in decades of international health, the UN Secretary-General has proposed closing UNAIDS – the UN’s key agency in the fight against HIV/AIDS – putting the entire global response to the epidemic at risk. VirusOFF emphasizes that we need UNAIDS now more than ever, otherwise millions of people, including those in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, will be left without protection and a voice.
The new report Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver, focused on UN reform as part of the UN80 initiative, states that the UNAIDS Secretariat should be dissolved by the end of 2026, with its functions redistributed to other UN structures in 2027.
For UNAIDS, this means a 55% reduction in staff – from 661 to 294 employees, a decrease in country presence from 85 to 54, and participation in 40 countries reduced to a “minimal level.” At the same time, strategic expertise will be shifted to regional hubs in Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Bangkok, while the Geneva office will be cut by 80%.
Experts and activists are sounding the alarm. UNAIDS is the only UN agency mandated to ensure the participation of communities of people living with HIV in decision-making, protect human rights, and monitor states’ commitments.
Closing UNAIDS in less than two years would be a disaster for millions of people worldwide. “We are not on track to end the epidemic by 2030. Stigma, criminalization, and funding cuts are already taking lives. Dissolving UNAIDS will destroy decades of work and silence those who make the HIV response truly effective,” says Alexei Lakhov, Executive Director of the European Network of People who Use Drugs (ENPUD).
The reform plan foresees a two-phase closure: the first phase is already underway, and the second will begin in 2027. It involves further integration and possible dissolution of the Secretariat, with functions transferred to countries and regional structures, such as the African Centres for Disease Control.
Meanwhile, the HIV epidemic has not stopped. More than 40 million people are living with the virus, new infections continue to occur, and international targets to end AIDS by 2030 are at risk. UNAIDS is developing the Global HIV Strategy for 2026–2031 and preparing a consensus on 2030 targets for the upcoming high-level meeting in 2026.
In the coming months, the world will witness whether the UN can reform without dismantling one of the most effective programs in global health, or whether the choice will favor cuts and weak integration, threatening the achievement of the 2030 targets.