Global cuts to aid funding are disrupting access to HIV medicines and testing, with healthcare providers in several countries reporting shortages of essential supplies, according to a survey covering 40 nations.
More than half of the organisations surveyed – 55% – said they had experienced stockouts during the past year. HIV tests and pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, were among the products in shortest supply. PrEP is a prescription drug taken to help prevent HIV infection.
The research was conducted by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), a global network working on sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice in more than 170 countries. Among the 40 IPPF member organisations that responded, 40% said they had completely run out of at least one product when surveyed, while 60% reported that supplies of at least one item were running low.
Mallah Tabot, a senior adviser at IPPF Africa’s regional office, said the shortages showed how quickly uncertain funding can weaken the supply chains on which communities rely.
She warned that the progress made in tackling HIV could not be protected if people were unable to obtain essential medicines and services, stressing that the threat was already being felt rather than remaining a distant possibility.
“HIV infections are rising in a number of countries around the world and lives are being lost,” Tabot added.
The survey found that HIV rapid diagnostic tests were the most severely affected product among the participating organisations.
Nearly every organisation that took part offers HIV testing. However, 17 reported low supplies and five said they had no tests available at all. As a result, more than half of the respondents cannot guarantee continuous, point-of-care HIV testing.
Access to both oral and injectable PrEP was also under pressure, with 12 member organisations reporting either limited supplies or no stock. Without dependable access to these basic HIV prevention and treatment products, patients risk facing breaks in care or being unable to receive services when they seek help through IPPF providers.
Respondents across the Arab world, Asia and Oceania, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean also described unreliable supplies of condoms, antiretroviral medicines and other HIV-related commodities.
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Lori Miller, an HIV adviser at IPPF, said partner organisations already had the clinics, digital systems, healthcare workers and community relationships needed to provide joined-up HIV prevention, testing and treatment. But, she said, unreliable supplies were preventing those networks from reaching their full potential.
Worldwide, an estimated 40.9 million people were living with HIV last year. The same period saw around 570,000 Aids-related deaths and 1.2 million new HIV infections.
HIV programmes globally were further destabilised in 2025 after reductions in aid threatened to reverse years of progress. Aid spending fell by about 23% from 2024, prompting the United Nations to warn in June that the cuts could contribute to a renewed HIV epidemic.
