Solidarity Makes Science Accessible For All – This Is The Roadmap For Ending The Aids Epidemic

Attending nan 26th International AIDS Conference successful Rio, you could beryllium forgiven for reasoning it was 2 wholly different events.

Under nan expansive taxable ‘Rethink, Rebuild, Rise’, 1 convention celebrated technological breakthroughs and progress. The different was furious, frightened and wished to defy nan dismantling of decades of work.

Jeff Graham, acting US Global AIDS Coordinator, took to nan shape to outline nan US administration’s caller brazenly titled "America First Global Health Strategy." He is nan man responsible for PEPFAR – nan President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which has saved much than 26 cardinal lives since 2003, which nan Trump management gutted successful early 2025, contempt promises to protect life-saving care.

People surviving and affected by HIV from aggregate countries had a different schedule and stormed nan position carrying placards: “Stop nan Blackmail. Release PEPFAR Funds. Follow nan Science” to nan chants of “You lie, we die.” I was 1 of them.

The US is not unsocial successful retreating from commitments to extremity AIDS. European governments including France, nan UK and Sweden person besides reduced their contributions.

Protestors swept nan conference, confronting France over its 58 per cent reduction to nan Global Fund for 2026 to 2028, while pharmaceutical institution Gilead faced protests complete nan value of life-saving medicines, including nan twice-yearly HIV prevention jab lenacapavir.

Latin American activists warned of a caller shape of colonialism. Kenyan activists put it starkly: “If donors don’t money HIV they tin commencement digging graves.”

The illusion of advancement crumbled further upon realising that successful nan very state hosting us, Brazil, were progressive successful opaque pricing deals for medication, wherever transparency would thief all.

Even nan Joint United Nations Programme connected HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) mislaid astir 25 per cent of its full financial assistance past year. Its chief, Winnie Byanyima, warned: “We don’t person clip to lose. This is simply a infinitesimal of extremist change.”

Throughout AIDS2026, I presented "HIV The Morning After", interviewing hundreds of HIV and AIDS advocates to header pinch this nonaccomplishment and make insight.

Dr Tristan Barber, chair of nan British HIV Association, described nan fragility created by decades of dependence connected US funding. “Being limited connected 1 state arsenic a donor, historically nan US, has led to a definite magnitude of fragility. The past 18 months person really demonstrated that,” he said.

Simon Collins, laminitis of HIV i-Base, struck astatine this barbarity, “The large rumor is that they withdrew backing successful nan astir destructive and vindictive and cruelest ways, successful that they gave organisations and countries perfectly nary announcement of what was going to happen.”

However, backing is only 1 portion of nan problem. Pharmaceutical monopolies stay astatine nan crux of access. Fatimah Hassan, head of Health Justice Initiative successful South Africa told maine “Pharmaceuticals’ bottommost statement is profit and their bottommost statement is not equity. It’s a ungraded and a crime that, fixed each nan nationalist wellness crises we’re facing, we still person intelligence spot rules that let a lifesaving medicine to beryllium granted a patent.”

Yet nan bonzer irony is that technological breakthroughs person ne'er been stronger. We person once-daily curen and prevention that tin beryllium administered only a fewer times a year, including lenacapavir.

Dr Antonio Flores, of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said: “I deliberation we successful a measurement are victims of our ain success. HIV has go a manageable chronic condition, but we must proceed to protect people’s authorities – number rights, taste number rights, intersexual number authorities and women’s rights.”

How tin a cheery antheral activity worker safely be a session successful a state wherever homosexuality is criminalised? How tin women entree prevention and curen while shame and stigma stay truthful powerful?

The reply I heard connected repetition was that technological breakthroughs must spell manus successful manus pinch access, arsenic outlined by Indonesian expert and transgender authorities activistic Alegra Wolter: “Dealing pinch multi-layered vulnerabilities and inequities requires organization innovations astatine nan centre.”

Christabel Millar, of Thorne Harbour Health, based on for nan professionalisation of adjacent support and putting resources straight into nan hands of those delivering it, truthful “no much large bosses successful fancy cars and nan group delivering nan adjacent support connected nan backmost of a motorbike.”

Susan Cole-Haley of nan Phoenix Health Movement called for “political committedness to extremity nan inequalities that beryllium some betwixt and wrong countries, truthful that everyone – sloppy of wherever they live, who they emotion aliases nan colour of their tegument – tin use from nan singular innovations being developed.”

‘Access for all’ was nan thread moving correct done to nan closing speeches.

Jean Vinicius of nan Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA) delivered an affectional address. "I americium personification who has had to woody pinch changeless humiliation and a batch of discrimination. I built my career, my journey, by integrating into nan authorities web of adolescents and young group surviving pinch HIV present successful Rio de Janeiro, welcoming, educating and politicising young group successful susceptible situations,” he said.

Jean confronted nan structural injustices that find who gets to use from nan advancement celebrated wrong nan convention walls and ended with: “The cure already exists. It’s called solidarity.”

The room erupted into a opinionated ovation.

Solidarity makes subject accessible for all. This was nan astir compelling information astatine AIDS2026: nan quality tenacity woven passim forty years of responding to nan AIDS pandemic. If we are superior astir ending AIDS, this must beryllium nan roadmap ahead.

Dan Glass is simply a writer, movie presenter, interdisciplinary societal subject PhD scholar, celebrated pedagogue and liberation activistic pinch AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). He was nan impermanent presenter connected nan ‘Rio Special’ bid of ‘HIV The Morning After’ . @danglassmincer / alright@theglassishalffull.co.uk

This article has been produced arsenic portion of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project