– region records 153,000 new HIV infections and 32,800 AIDS-related deaths in 2025
LATIN America and the Caribbean recorded an estimated 153,000 new HIV infections and 32,800 AIDS-related deaths in 2025, as declining international funding and cuts to prevention and community-led services threaten to reverse gains made in the regional response, a new UNAIDS report has warned.
The report, presented during the 26th International AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 27 to 31, highlighted sharply contrasting trends across the two regions, with the Caribbean recording significant declines in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths, while infections continued to rise in Latin America.
According to UNAIDS, the number of people acquiring HIV in the Caribbean fell by 30 per cent between 2010 and 2025, while AIDS-related deaths declined by 65 per cent over the same period. Seven Caribbean countries recorded reductions in new HIV infections.
In Latin America, however, new HIV infections increased by 25 per cent between 2010 and 2025, placing the wider region off track to meet key HIV targets.
“Given the current funding realities, governments must move with alacrity to translate political commitments to increase domestic funding for HIV-prevention programmes and community-led initiatives that can help in reducing the number of new infections,” said Luisa Cabal, UNAIDS Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
“The progress in reducing AIDS-related deaths and eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, in several countries, show us what is possible in the Caribbean when political commitment turns into action,” she added.
The report found that new HIV infections in the Caribbean declined by 31 per cent among men and 28 per cent among women since 2010. Among young people aged 15 to 24, infections fell by 38 per cent among young men and 39 per cent among young women.
Despite those gains, UNAIDS said the pace of progress remains too slow for the Caribbean to achieve regional targets.
In Latin America, three out of every four new HIV infections occur among men. Among young people, new infections declined by 12 per cent among young women but increased by 16 per cent among young men.
The report also identified disparities in AIDS-related deaths. Between 2010 and 2025, deaths declined by 46 per cent among men compared with 23 per cent among women.
UNAIDS said the trends underscore the need to accelerate combination HIV-prevention efforts, expand access to prevention options such as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, strengthen early diagnosis, improve links to care and ensure sustained access to antiretroviral treatment for men, women and young people.
Cabal also raised concerns about unequal access to new HIV-prevention technologies, noting that many countries in the region have been excluded from voluntary licensing arrangements that could allow wider access to essential prevention tools.
“Despite the innovations announced as essential prevention tools to accelerate the response, most countries in the region have been excluded from the voluntary licences that would enable greater access for the people who need them,” Cabal said.
“This is simply an injustice, and it is unacceptable.”
The report noted that international funding for HIV fell by more than US$1.5 billion, declining from US$8.8 billion in 2024 to US$7.3 billion in 2025 — an 18 per cent reduction and the lowest level recorded in nearly two decades.
The decline followed a 23 per cent reduction in official development assistance globally, raising concerns for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that are transitioning away from external donor support.
UNAIDS said governments must ensure that the transition to greater domestic financing is effective and remains centred on the needs of people living with and affected by HIV.
“With the disruptions to the global health architecture, it is important to focus the HIV response on five key actions to translate political commitment into concrete measures: domestic funding to sustain the response, equitable access to prevention innovations, supporting community leadership, closing treatment gaps, including addressing the high rates of advanced HIV, and combating HIV-related stigma and discrimination,” Cabal said.
In June 2026, Caribbean countries were among 149 United Nations member states that adopted the Global AIDS Strategy 2026–2031 and endorsed a Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS outlining a roadmap towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
The declaration includes targets to place 40 million people on HIV treatment and provide 20 million people with access to antiretroviral-based prevention by 2030.
It also seeks to reduce stigma and discrimination, gender inequality and violence, and punitive legal and policy environments that restrict access to HIV services to fewer than 10 per cent.
UNAIDS estimates that fully implementing the commitments could prevent an additional 3.2 million new HIV infections and 1.3 million AIDS-related deaths by 2030.
The report said renewed political commitment, increased domestic investment and stronger support for prevention, treatment and community-led programmes will be critical if Latin America and the Caribbean are to meet the ambitious targets set out in the Political Declaration.
