World AIDS Day 2025: 40-year fight against an epidemic— What's still unfinished?

World AIDS Day on December 1, 2025, marks the 36th year since its inception in the global fight against the most destructive epidemics in human history.

On every December 1, the global scientific community, physicians, families, and volunteers mark this day to remember the victims of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and promote awareness efforts to eradicate this forever.

Despite major scientific advancements to prevent its spread in recent times, amid the global funding cuts, it triggered warnings from global health experts that it could lead to the resurfacing of the epidemic in regions bearing the heaviest burdens.

Since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, approximately 44.1 million people have died from related illnesses globally, and an estimated 91.4 million people have been diagnosed with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).

According to the latest figures, an estimated 40.8 million people globally are living with HIV, and it claimed around 630,000 lives just last year.

On the 37th World AIDS Day, let’s dive in to find out what the four major milestones over the last four decades have been in the fight against the most devastating epidemic in human history:

In 1984, the first European surveillance was issued, and a year later, an HIV test was initiated in the UK.

1) How HAART changed HIV/AIDS

After years of research efforts, scientists finally came to know about a highly active antiretroviral therapy, known as HAART; a triple drug regimen emerged as a highly effective therapy for AIDS.

HAART helps in restoring the immune system by suppressing the virus, slowing the onset of AIDS in people with HIV.

It was a milestone step in transforming an HIV diagnosis from a fatal diagnosis into a treatable, chronic condition.

As a result, the mortality rates dropped in countries where HAART was accessible, but simultaneously, the number of HIV cases surged due to increased testing and diagnoses.

2) Creation of PEPFAR (2003)

PEPFAR is the largest global health program for combating a single disease of all time.

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, shorthand for PEPFAR, was established in 2003 with the initial funding of $15 billion for five years to fight and curb HIV/AIDS in the areas with the highest prevalence rates.

PEPFAR has been instrumental so far, as it has saved more than 26 million human lives in 50 countries.

3) The first PrEP approval: Curbing HIV risk

PrEP is a daily pill for people at higher risk of HIV infection, such as transgender people and sex workers, to lower the risk that they will contract the virus.

Studies highlight that it can reduce HIV risks by about 99% and from injections by about 74%.

A U.S. regulator gave the nod to Truvada to be used for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), after the European Union approved it in 2016.

4) 90-90-90 targets

The UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), in 2014, set up a 2020 target for 90 percent of HIV patients globally to become aware of their HIV status with the help of antiretroviral treatments.

Thus, it led to the UN General Assembly adopting these goals—known as 90-90-90—two years later.

It was stated that meeting these targets would mean an end to the epidemic by 2030.

But, with the exception of Sweden, which succeeded in achieving these targets in 2016, only 19 countries globally fully or partially achieved the 90-90-90 targets, according to UNAIDS data.

Amid the global health cuts in funding to curb HIV/AIDS, global health experts have warned that this shortage of funds could disrupt years of working to fight against this epidemic, which could also trigger other long-term health crises, such as malaria and tuberculosis (TB).

A generation at risk: How HIV targets the young

Young adults are becoming the most vulnerable segment of this epidemic, with 45% of all new HIV infections globally diagnosed among women and girls (all ages) last year.

In 2024, 63% of new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa were diagnosed among women and girls, while in all other regions, about 73% of cases were reported among men and boys.

It’s an alarming scenario, where every week, 4000 adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 years became infected with HIV in 2024—3300 of these infections were reported in sub-Saharan Africa.

It’s time to act now, by overcoming disruption and transforming the AIDS response, as we confront a global burden of 40.8 million HIV cases—which claimed about 630,000 lives in 2024 alone.