HUGE international aid funding cuts from the likes of the USA and the UK have already MASSIVELY impacted HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa, so now more than ever, prevention is better than cure. UNAIDS predicts an extra 6 million infections and 4 million more deaths in the next 4 years (source).
HIV education is key to reducing new infections and more tragic deaths.
Watch our World AIDS Day video below.
Video transcript
World AIDS Day 2025: Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response. Honesty’s story
Honesty
“My dad is HIV positive. He gave it to our mum.
She passed on, you know, and when she passed on, it's only when we realised that dad has been taking some medication that he's been hiding from our mum.
My mother was not aware - my mama could have been still alive.”
Pam, leader of the Shining Star project, Zimbabwe
Over the last 12 months there has been an unprecedented reduction in US and UK AIDS spending that has had a huge impact on HIV care programmes.
Before the cuts, the US represented close to 45% of the total HIV prevention budget across 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is estimated that just from the aid budget cuts from the US, specifically cuts to HIV treatments such as antiretrovirals, 4 million [more] people will die in the next four years.
Honesty
"You know, when my Mama passed away, it came as a shock to all of us because we thought we still had more years with her.
The doctor just asked her a few questions and also asked if she's been sleeping with or she's got another man. And she said, no, I don't have another partner.
Then he just gave us a painkiller and we went back home.
After we stopped seeing the doctor, the rash on her body, you know, that rash that's got like watery, like, you know, bumps and she couldn't, you know, sit up straight because she even had a backache.
She her bowel didn't move regularly.
Her skin was very, very dry. No matter how much lotion we put, her skin was super, super dry.
She didn't want to eat. She was vomiting. At night, she was sweating.
Then the sickness went on and on. The migraine, the rash, you name it. She just kept on losing weight.
You know, it brings it brings tears to talk about how she just disappeared in front of us just like that.
Little did we know that we had like 4 weeks, you know, left with our mum.
She was 42. I was, I was 16.
So everything just changed.
I had to find piece jobs to to earn a living. My [13-year-old] brother had also to start selling vegetables and creating making gardens so that we can survive.
There are so many other families like our family, that is child-headed, the parents are both gone.
There needs to be some more awareness campaigns, teaching and making people aware because it's [HIV] there to stay.
It's not going to go anywhere. People are going to carry on dying.
We are not well taught. We don't understand it fully.
I wish we could have more organisations that could help us spread the word and teach us more so we can understand."
Pam, leader of the Shining Star project, Zimbabwe
The US funding cuts have already resulted in thousands of health workers being retrenched, programmes halted, reduced access to HIV prevention, unavailability of data systems and the dismantling of community health systems
Due to the reductions in funding for HIV treatment, now more than ever, prevention is better than cure.
That is why it is so important that we continue with our programmes to educate young people and reach out to the most high-risk groups, such as teenage mothers and young women in prostitution.
Please consider making a gift to the Big Give this year.
You can make a real impact because your gift will be doubled, which means we can double the amount of work and reach twice the number of young people.
Please do not miss this opportunity to literally save someone's life this Christmas.