The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an urgent call for global health leaders, governments, and donor agencies to embrace structural integration, scientific innovation, and community leadership to meet the global goal of eliminating HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by 2030.
The appeal coincided with the release of a milestone progress assessment report evaluating the implementation of the Global Health Sector Strategies for HIV, viral hepatitis, and STIs from 2022 to 2030. Unveiled during the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) and aligned with World Hepatitis Day observed under the theme “Hepatitis: Let's break it down”the report reveals a dual reality: remarkable progress driven by scientific breakthroughs, alongside dangerous vulnerabilities caused by global funding cuts, health inequalities, and humanitarian crises.
Unprecedented Gains Against HIV, but Gaps Remain
The WHO report highlights major advances in expanding life-saving care across the world over the past decade. By the end of 2025, approximately 32 million people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy, contributing to a 42% drop in new HIV infections and a 57% decrease in AIDS-related deaths compared to 2010 levels.
“This progress reflects sustained investments in treatment, prevention, and scientific innovation,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement. “However, this report tells two stories. It demonstrates what is possible when countries invest in health, communities, and science. But it also shows how quickly progress can be undone with funding disruptions, humanitarian emergencies, and rising inequalities.”
Despite these milestones, the global health agency warned that approximately 9 million people living with HIV still lack access to life-saving treatment, while transmission rates continue to rise among key and vulnerable populations in several regions. Furthermore, donor funding reductions in 2025 severely disrupted prevention initiatives in resource-constrained nations, particularly impacting access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
Viral Hepatitis and STIs Present Mixed Progress
Progress across viral hepatitis and bacterial STIs presents a similarly complex picture:
Hepatitis B & C: Annual new hepatitis B infections dropped by 32% since 2015, and hepatitis C-related deaths fell by 12% globally over the same period. Yet, viral hepatitis remains one of the world's most fatal infectious disease threats, causing an estimated 1.3 million deaths in 2024, primarily due to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Alarmingly, hepatitis B deaths increased by 17% since 2015, driven by persistent gaps in early screening and lifelong treatment coverage.
Sexually Transmitted Infections: While pregnant women benefited from improved syphilis screening and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates saw modest gains, rising overall STI incidence and multi-drug resistant strains particularly antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae threaten to erode global prevention efforts.
Three Pillars to Reach the 2030 Targets
To overcome current roadblocks, the WHO outlined three strategic priorities to reshape national responses over the remaining four years of the strategy period:
1. Primary Healthcare Integration
Rather than operating siloed vertical programs, health systems are urged to deliver HIV, hepatitis, and STI services within unified primary healthcare platforms. Embedding multi-disease testing platforms alongside maternal healthcare, tuberculosis care, and non-communicable disease screening ensures higher retention rates and reduces operational overhead. Eliminating vertical mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B remains a central pillar.
2. Rapid Adoption of Breakthrough Innovations
The report calls on national regulators and health systems to accelerate equitable access to transformative tools. Key highlighted advancements include:
Long-Acting Injectable Lenacapavir: A twice-yearly injectable HIV PrEP regimen showing high efficacy for populations at elevated risk.
Doxycycline Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (Doxy-PEP): Targeted antimicrobial prophylaxis to prevent bacterial STIs such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.
Digital Health Infrastructure: Decentralized multi-disease diagnostics, digital surveillance platforms, and self-testing kits to reach underserved communities.
3. Community Leadership and Sustainable Financing
Empowering community-led organizations and grassroots networks ensures services are tailored to the lived reality of vulnerable populations, reducing the barrier of healthcare-related stigma.
Dr. Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO's Department for HIV, TB, Hepatitis, and STIs, emphasized that the new progress report acts as a practical roadmap rather than a passive status update. “Together with our new consolidated HIV service delivery and surveillance guidance, WHO is equipping countries with practical tools to strengthen programs today and reach the people who need them most,” Kasaeva stated.
Health ministers and international partners meeting at the high-level World Hepatitis Day commemoration in Brazil echoed the call, stressing that turning proven scientific tools into universal access is the final hurdle in ending the three epidemics by 2030.