The World Health Organisation (WHO) is warning that the global response to HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remains off track, with persistent weaknesses in prevention, testing, treatment, surveillance and health financing threatening progress toward the 2030 targets.
The warning came last month as countries marked World Hepatitis Day under the theme “Hepatitis: Let’s Break It Down,” with WHO calling for urgent action to remove the financial, social and systemic barriers that continue to prevent millions of people from accessing prevention, testing, treatment and care.
WHO’s latest assessment also highlights a deteriorating global STI response, marked by rising STI incidence, increasing antimicrobial resistance and inadequate coverage of HPV vaccination and cervical cancer screening.
The organisation said gaps in surveillance, diagnostics, funding and health information systems are making it harder for countries to monitor disease trends and expand effective prevention and treatment services.
Integration key to reversing setbacks
WHO said one of the biggest opportunities to accelerate progress is to integrate HIV, hepatitis and STI services into primary health care.
Countries showing stronger results are increasingly combining these services with programmes addressing tuberculosis, sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health and noncommunicable diseases.
The elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B remains a key priority.
WHO said a growing number of countries are now seeking validation for elimination, demonstrating that substantial progress is possible when maternal and child health services are strengthened and integrated.
The agency is also urging countries to expand digital health solutions, improve surveillance and health information systems, and scale up multi-disease testing.
Newer prevention technologies could also play a role. WHO said the long-acting HIV prevention drug lenacapavir, which is administered twice yearly, is now being introduced in 10 countries, with rollout planned in another 14.
WHO also identified its recommendation on doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis, or doxycycline PEP, as a potential tool to reduce bacterial STIs among populations at substantial risk.
Communities central to response
WHO stressed that stronger community involvement is essential to closing persistent gaps.
It said community-generated data should be incorporated into national monitoring systems to strengthen accountability, improve programmes and help ensure health services reach populations most often left behind.
The organisation has released its first consolidated HIV service delivery guidelines, bringing together evidence-based recommendations covering HIV prevention, testing, treatment and long-term care.
New HIV surveillance guidance has also been issued to strengthen routine surveillance and improve the use of national health data for public health action.
Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Department for HIV, TB, Hepatitis and STIs, described the assessment as a roadmap for countries facing stalled progress.
“This assessment is more than a progress report; it is a practical guide for action for the second half of this strategy period,” Kasaeva said.
She said the report identifies where countries are making progress, where efforts are faltering and where additional investment could produce the greatest impact.
“Together with our new consolidated HIV service delivery and HIV surveillance guidance, WHO is equipping countries with practical tools to strengthen programmes today and reach the people and communities who need them most.”
The assessment comes shortly after the adoption of the 2026 United Nations High-Level Meeting Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, providing countries with evidence to support implementation of their commitments.
WHO’s Global Health Sector Strategies on HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs for 2022–2030 were adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2022 and provide the framework for efforts to end the three diseases as public health threats by 2030 while advancing universal health coverage, primary health care and health equity.
