Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure to protect the United Kingdom's remaining financial contributions to the global fight against HIV and AIDS. A coalition of health leaders, politicians, and charity chiefs has issued a stark warning that without sustained British support, the world risks losing the historic opportunity to end the AIDS pandemic within this decade.
A Critical Juncture in the Global Fight
The signatories, including the editor-in-chief of The Independent, Geordie Greig, and the CEO of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Anne Aslett, have penned an open letter to the Prime Minister. They applaud his domestic commitment to ending HIV transmissions in the UK within a generation but urge him to extend that leadership globally. The letter stresses that the world was on track to meet the 2030 target to end AIDS as recently as 2024.
However, unprecedented international aid cuts from multiple nations this year have jeopardised that hard-won progress. The coalition argues that failure to maintain funding now could see the world slide back to the crisis levels witnessed two decades ago, when mass deaths overwhelmed healthcare systems worldwide.
The Stakes: Millions of Lives and New Dangers
The consequences of inaction are quantified in stark terms. The letter warns that unless global HIV funding is protected, there will be more than four million additional deaths and new infections by 2030. Furthermore, a failure to invest could lead to a doubling in the number of medication-resistant strains of the virus, creating new public health dangers that would affect everyone.
While the UK's recent pledge of £850 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is acknowledged as significant, the signatories highlight that this still represents a £150 million reduction from its 2022 pledge. They estimate this cut alone could result in an additional 255,000 lives lost over the next three years.
Three Key Institutions Awaiting Decision
In the coming weeks, the government is set to confirm funding for three specific global institutions deemed small but critical to the HIV response: UNAIDS, Unitaid, and the Robert Carr Fund. These bodies fulfil essential roles, from coordination and advocacy to funding innovation and supporting civil society networks.
Remarkably, the combined UK contribution needed to fully support these three institutions over the next three years would cost British taxpayers less than £1.30 per adult per year.
The letter makes three core demands of the Prime Minister. Firstly, to champion ending AIDS globally by 2030 as a British priority, backing new innovations like the long-acting injectable drug lenacapavir. Secondly, to provide sufficient funding for UNAIDS, Unitaid, and the Robert Carr Fund. Thirdly, to ensure British aid is directed to the communities most impacted by HIV.
The broad coalition of signatories spans the political spectrum and the health sector, including Conservative peer Lord Guy Black, Labour MPs like Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer, and CEOs of major NGOs such as the National AIDS Trust and StopAIDS. Their unified message is clear: with the finish line in sight, now is not the moment for the UK to step back.
