Cuts in international health funding are already affecting HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria programs. In 2025, HIV prevention services were scaled back or suspended in several countries, TB programs faced disruptions to case finding and treatment, and malaria responses saw stock-outs of essential medicines and delays to prevention campaigns.
These are among the main findings of the Global Fund’s 2026 Results Report, released today. The data also show that many essential services were maintained during a year marked by reduced funding, conflict, displacement and growing humanitarian need. In 2025, 26.9 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy for HIV in countries where the Global Fund invests, compared with 25.6 million the previous year. A further 7.4 million people were treated for TB, and 196 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets were distributed to help prevent malaria.
The impact of funding cuts has been particularly evident in HIV prevention. The number of people receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) fell from 1.4 million in 2024 to 1.1 million in 2025. Treatment figures followed a different trend. In Global Fund-supported countries, 80% of people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy and 74% had achieved viral suppression.
TB remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease. In 2024, an estimated 10.7 million people fell ill with TB and more than 1.2 million died from the disease. More than 2 million people estimated to have TB were not diagnosed, treated or notified to national TB programs. In 2025, 7.4 million people were treated in Global Fund-supported countries, including 115,000 people with drug-resistant TB.
For malaria, funding pressures are coinciding with growing drug and insecticide resistance, conflict and the effects of climate change. In 2024, there were 282 million malaria cases and an estimated 610,000 deaths globally. In countries where the Global Fund invests, children under 5 account for almost three-quarters of malaria deaths.
New tools in a context of constrained resources
The report also highlights the introduction and scale-up of new prevention and diagnostic tools. At the end of 2025, the first deliveries of lenacapavir for HIV prevention reached Global Fund-supported countries. Its arrival in African countries in the same year as in high-income countries helps narrow a historic gap in access to health innovations that could previously stretch to several years.
In the fight against TB, AI-enabled digital X-rays are now being rolled out in more than 20 countries. For malaria, dual active ingredient insecticide-treated mosquito nets are being increasingly deployed, providing greater protection in areas where resistance to conventional insecticides has developed.
The continuity of these programs also depends on the capacity of health systems. Between 2024 and 2026, the Global Fund is investing approximately US$5.9 billion in laboratories, disease surveillance, supply chains, the health workforce and community systems. This represents a 43% increase over the previous grant cycle.
The report also puts the 2025 results into a broader perspective. Since 2002, the Global Fund estimates that interventions carried out in partnership with countries and other partners have helped save 72 million lives and reduce the combined death rate from AIDS, TB and malaria by 65%. The funding cuts seen over the past year show how closely continued progress against these diseases remains tied to the availability of resources to maintain prevention, diagnosis and treatment programs.
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You can read the full Results Report here.
Photo: The Global Fund/Jason Mulikita
