Recently we woke up to alarming news: the United Nations is planning to shut down UNAIDS by the end of 2026 as part of a broader restructuring motivated by funding shortfalls. This is deeply disturbing. For nearly three decades, UNAIDS has coordinated the global HIV response while championing human rights, data visibility, and inclusion for marginalised communities. Removing or diluting its mandate would mean erasing decades of progress and weakening accountability in the fight against HIV.
Uganda’s story over the last few decades shows what is possible when government commitment, civil society, and international support align. These gains were hard won through coordinated global and local efforts led in part by UNAIDS. As of late 2024, Uganda has about 1.5 million people living with HIV, according to the Uganda Aids Commission’s latest figures. Adult HIV prevalence among those aged 15 to 49 has declined to 4.9 percent, a dramatic improvement from earlier decades.
Equally encouraging is the progress in preventing mother-to-child transmission, with new infections among newborns dropping by about 77 percent, from 20,000 cases in 2010 to 5,900 in 2022, according to WHO Africa. Behind these numbers are real lives: mothers delivering HIV-free babies, young people accessing testing without stigma, and communities regaining hope. Government programmes, from preventing mother-to-child transmission to expanding male circumcision and widespread testing, have played a major role alongside civil society efforts that reach marginalised groups, push for policy change, and sustain human rights advocacy. As a member of Uganda’s Country Coordinating Council of the Global Fund, I have seen how this partnership between government, civil society, and international agencies such as UNAIDS keeps our national response grounded and effective.
Despite all this progress, the fight against HIV/Aids in Uganda is far from over. Young people, especially adolescent girls, and children are still being infected. We see all this from our engagement. Geographic disparities persist. Certain regions or hotspot communities near transport corridors or water bodies continue to show higher prevalence. Men are testing later, starting treatment later, and many drop out of care. But there is another dimension to this story that risks being completely erased if UNAIDS disappears: the critical work supporting key and vulnerable population communities. UNAIDS’ inclusive approach is what made Uganda’s broader success possible.
Without UNAIDS, who will ensure that key and vulnerable communities remain visible in HIV data? Who will push for their inclusion in prevention programmes? Who will provide the technical support to health workers serving them? Who will hold governments accountable when political winds shift against human rights? The answer, frankly, is no one. No other UN agency has this mandate. No bilateral donor has this reach. No regional body has this expertise. Now is not the moment to wind down global coordination. On the contrary, now is the time to roll up our sleeves and up our game. ing UNAIDS would erode oversight, data systems, and collaboration, the backbone of Uganda’s progress. Without it, Uganda and countries like ours risk regression: loss of funding, disruption in services, rollback of human rights protections, and silencing of vulnerable voices. I say this not just as an activist, but as a member of Uganda’s Country Coordinating Council of the Global Fund, and as someone who comes from and continues to work alongside communities often left at the margins, a platform that works closely with partners like UNAIDS to keep the fight against HIV accountable and inclusive.
If ending AIDS by 2030 remains our promise, defending UNAIDS is defending life itself. Governments, donors, and civil society must stand firm so no one is left behind. It is time for all sectors, government, donors, civil society, and communities themselves, to stand firm and demand that UNAIDS remain strong, to ensure no one is left behind.