Interview: UNAIDS chief calls for continued global solidarity to end AIDS

Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, speaks during an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Berlin, Germany, Oct. 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Zhang Haofu)

BERLIN, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The global fight against HIV/AIDS has achieved remarkable progress over the past decades, but continued global solidarity and sustained commitment are essential to consolidate the gains and ultimately end the epidemic, said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the 2025 World Health Summit, which concluded Tuesday in Berlin.

"For a disease that has no cure and no vaccine, new HIV infections have fallen by more than 40 percent globally since 2010, and deaths have declined by nearly 60 percent," Byanyima said at the summit.

She attributed these achievements to global solidarity, noting that countries worldwide have "come together, fought together, and supported those bearing the heaviest burden."

According to UNAIDS, nearly 31 million people were receiving life-saving antiretroviral therapy in 2023, with treatment coverage continuing to expand. "Past experience has shown that it is through solidarity that the world can continue to move forward in the fight against AIDS," she said.

Despite the progress, Byanyima cautioned that the pandemic is far from over. Reductions in international funding, she noted, have posed new challenges to prevention and control efforts. "To end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, we must remain united and continue to invest in effective prevention and treatment," she said.

She highlighted that many countries are now transitioning from aid-dependent responses to domestically financed ones. China is playing a constructive role in this process by supporting low-income countries in strengthening their HIV prevention and control capabilities through South-South cooperation and knowledge sharing, as well as by helping address structural barriers in the global economy that hinder African nations from financing their own health responses, she said.

She stressed the need to tackle social inequalities that drive new infections. "In sub-Saharan Africa, women and girls remain disproportionately affected by HIV," Byanyima said, adding that keeping girls in school is among the most effective ways to protect them from infection. "When girls have access to education and health services, they can make informed choices and build safer, healthier futures."

Recent scientific advances have brought new hope to the global HIV/AIDS response. Byanyima cited Lenacapavir, a new HIV prevention drug, as an example of a potential game changer. Administered by injection every six months, it is highly effective in preventing infection and suppressing the virus, she said.

She urged governments, companies, and international organizations to work together to ensure that such life-saving innovations are accessible to all. "Innovations on their own don't make a difference. It's when they are accessible to everyone in need that they truly make an impact," she said.

"Global challenges like pandemics, driven by viruses that don't respect borders, require global solutions," she added, calling on the international community to continue combating stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV, expand access to sexual and reproductive health services, and provide comprehensive sexuality education in schools.

"The fight against AIDS is as much about values as it is about medicine," Byanyima said. "It's not only a tablet that can stop new infections, it's also how people live and how equality spreads in society." ■

Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, speaks during an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Berlin, Germany, Oct. 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Zhang Haofu)