Reports from UK Health Department and UNAIDS

UK Invests £27 Million to End HIV by 2030; US Highlights PEPFAR's $100 Billion Impact

Dec 1, 2024, 02:30 PM

On World AIDS Day, governments and organizations worldwide reaffirmed their commitment to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030. The UK Labour Government, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting, announced a £27 million investment to expand the HIV opt-out testing program to 81 accident and emergency departments across England, aiming to eliminate new HIV transmissions and become the first country to achieve this goal by 2030. In the United States, officials highlighted the ongoing efforts of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has invested over $100 billion since 2003 and saved more than 20 million lives. Global health leaders, including UNAIDS and the World Health Organization's Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, emphasized the importance of protecting human rights, eliminating stigma, and ensuring equitable access to testing, prevention, and treatment services to achieve a future free of HIV/AIDS. Dr. Tedros noted that marginalization, criminalization, and discrimination against key populations have fueled HIV transmission and cost lives.