Thank you @EGPAF for setting the record straight about pediatric HIV! UNAIDS latest data shows that only 55% of all children living with HIV are receiving lifesaving treatment, far below the treatment coverage among adults living with HIV (79%). This is unacceptable. We must close the gap so that no child is left behind. For more data on HIV: unaids.org/en/resources/fact…

UNAIDS plays a critical role in defending human rights and coordinating the HIV response, helping ensure that the rights of women living with HIV remain protected. Mariana Iacono of ICW Latina explains why preserving UNAIDS’ mandate is essential for women living with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean.

📰Article to read this week: Activists are calling on continued funding for UNAIDS to protect hard-won progress against HIV. In 2025, 41 million people were living with HIV, 1.2 million people acquired HIV and 570,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses. Meanwhile, funding for HIV responses is at the lowest level in nearly two decades. As UNAIDS transforms, sustained support is vital to protect progress, uphold human rights and keep communities at the heart of the response. Read the full article: independent.co.uk/news/uk/po… @Independent

UNAIDS helps keep the HIV response accountable: tracking progress against global targets, reporting annually on the data, and supporting countries to turn commitments to the 2026 Political Declaration into action. Douglas Bosire, CEO of @nsdcc_kenya, reflects on how UNAIDS brings data, communities and political leadership together to sustain progress.

From crisis to resilience: the lessons we take from #WHS2026 Over the past days in Berlin, UNAIDS has joined global health leaders, governments, civil society and communities to reflect on what it will take to build more equitable and resilient health systems. Our discussions reinforced three essential lessons. 🔹 Innovation must come with access. Scientific breakthroughs alone will not deliver health for all. We must change the rules that determine who benefits from medicines, technologies and scientific progress. 🔹 Equity is essential to resilience. Inequality drives pandemics, and pandemics deepen inequality. Human rights, community leadership and access to services must be at the centre of our response. 🔹 Reform must deliver for people. As the UN system evolves, success must be measured by whether countries receive better support and communities remain meaningfully involved in decisions. Human rights, accountability and community leadership must be deliberately protected and properly resourced. The HIV response has shown that progress is possible when political commitment, community action and scientific innovation come together. It has also shown that progress cannot be sustained without confronting the inequalities and barriers that leave people behind. As we leave Berlin, the challenge is clear: turn these lessons into action — so that innovation reaches everyone who needs it, countries can strengthen their health systems, and no one is excluded from the right to health.

Matt Kavanagh, Director and Associate Professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics, and a member of the Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Pandemics, highlights the opportunity presented by innovations such as lenacapavir and the importance of African leadership in turning scientific progress into accessible medicines. Governments across Africa are working to strengthen pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, harmonise regulatory pathways and mobilise the political leadership needed to accelerate access. Building the capacity to fight the pandemics we face today is also how we prepare for the pandemics of tomorrow.

Local production is essential to equitable access. The HIV response has shown that scientific breakthroughs do not automatically reach everyone who needs them. Access depends on the rules governing medicines, the affordability of treatments and where health technologies are produced. At #WHS2026, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima highlighted the need to change the global rules that prevent countries and communities from benefiting equitably from scientific progress. Strengthening local and regional production, expanding technology transfer and enabling more affordable generic medicines can help countries reduce reliance on external suppliers and build more resilient health systems. Health innovation must not only be developed. It must be accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Strong health systems need strong community systems. At #WHS2026 in Berlin, Fionnuala Murphy, Associate Director of Advocacy at Frontline AIDS, highlighted why civil society and communities must remain central to global health reform. “You can't have strong states without strong civil society, and you can't have strong health systems without strong community systems.” Communities are not obstacles to effective health systems. They are essential partners in delivering health for all. As the UN system evolves, community leadership must be protected and meaningfully included in decision-making. Reform must strengthen the partnership between governments, civil society and communities — not leave them behind.

“Exclusion is not an accident. It is the result of choices made through laws, policies and institutions — which we can change.” At #WHS2026, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima highlighted a critical lesson from the AIDS response: inequality drives pandemics, and pandemics deepen inequality. Scientific breakthroughs alone cannot deliver health for all. We must also challenge the barriers that prevent people from accessing lifesaving medicines, services and innovation. The HIV response has shown that change is possible when communities mobilize, political leaders act and the rules governing access are challenged. A more resilient future starts with changing the systems that leave people behind.