Our impact on HIV
Around 39.9 million people were living with HIV in 2023, and many more people – especially from certain priority populations – are at risk. Our agreements are helping to bring HIV products to low- and middle-income countries.
Global HIV overview
In 2023, around 1.3 million people acquired HIV and 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses. The world is a long way from achieving the 2030 target of ending AIDS as a global health threat.
However, there have been large reductions in cases and deaths since the peak in the mid-1990s. Over the course of the HIV epidemic, huge progress has been made in developing products and medicines to prevent, test and treat HIV, and monitor viral load to ensure treatment is working.
But many people living in low- and middle-income countries cannot access these products. Without access, it will be difficult to curb the epidemic and get it back on track to reach the global targets.
“HIV and syphilis are two of the most devastating diseases a child can be born with.”
Dr Akudo Ikpeazu, public health physician and director and head of Nigeria’s national AIDS, viral hepatitis and STIs control program
Our HIV agreements
To date, we have signed three agreements to accelerate access to products that tackle HIV:
- Viral load testing to monitor whether patients are on effective treatment.
- A dual test for HIV and syphilis that enables pregnant women to be tested for both conditions simultaneously.
- An HIV self-test which enables people to test for HIV in privacy.
Impact to date:
932,000
patients not virally suppressed identified by end of 2022
$1
record low price per HIV-self test secured
Case study: Increasing access to viral load testing
Our guarantee for Hologic disrupted the market for viral load testing. It led to a new low ceiling price of $12 per patient test, including all consumables, which has become the benchmark for major procurers.
The partnership, part of Hologic’s Global Access Initiative, has led to more than 932,000 people with unsuppressed HIV viral load being identified and more than 457,000 people being switched to more suitable second-line treatment.
Twelve countries are now using the Panther for HIV viral load testing thanks to our guarantee. The Panther platform can also test for hepatitis viral load, as well as diagnostic testing for COVID-19 and human papillomavirus, the leading cause of cervical cancer.
By the end of 2022, the guarantee had directly led to $45 million savings for procurers including the Global Fund and PEPFAR.
“Not knowing a patient’s viral load is like walking around in the dark with a pair of scissors. You don’t know who you will cut. Without knowing the viral load, you don’t know if the drugs are working. And if you don’t know if the drugs are working, the patient may be unknowingly transmitting HIV to others.”
Dr. N Kumarasamy, infectious diseases doctor, Chennai, India
