UNAIDS chief urges Africa to rethink health funding after global aid cuts

African governments must urgently increase domestic health spending and reduce reliance on foreign aid following sweeping cuts by major donors, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said on Tuesday, warning that the continent risks losing ground in the fight against HIV.

Byanyima said recent aid reductions, including the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development under President Donald Trump and cuts by France, Germany and the United Kingdom, have left health programs under severe strain. She said UNAIDS lost about 25% of its funding last year.

"We don't have time to lose. This is a moment of radical change," Byanyima said on the sidelines of the Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly on Ending AIDS by 2030 in the Ghanaian capital Accra. She called on African governments to reprioritize spending, strengthen health systems and invest in local production of medicines.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region hardest hit by HIV, accounting for 64% of people living with the virus globally, while 60% of new infections last year occurred on the continent.

Byanyima said the aid cuts should serve as a turning point for African governments to strengthen domestic financing, improve the efficiency of health spending and expand local production of medicines. Without those changes, she warned, the continent risks stalling decades of progress in the fight against HIV.