BY SIFISO NHLABATSI
MBABANE – Eswatini’s progress in the fight against HIV has earned international recognition, with the country named among only seven countries that achieved at least a 78 percent reduction in new HIV infections between 2010 and 2025.
The achievement placed Eswatini alongside Benin, Kenya, Lesotho, Nepal, Rwanda and Zimbabwe as countries that have made exceptional progress towards the global target of reducing new HIV infections by 90 percent by 2030.
The recognition featured prominently in the latest UNAIDS assessment presented around the UN summit on HIV/AIDS, highlighting Eswatini as one of the countries demonstrating that sustained investment, effective prevention programmes and strong community mobilisation can produce significant results in the HIV response.
The seven countries were identified as being well on track towards the 2030 target, while a further 27 countries have reduced annual new HIV infections by more than 60 percent since 2010.
For Eswatini, the recognition comes after years of implementing an aggressive HIV response in a country that has historically carried one of the world’s highest HIV burdens.
UNAIDS said the progress made by the seven countries was particularly significant because it demonstrated what could be achieved despite the increasingly difficult global funding environment.
However, the global HIV response now faces a major threat from declining international assistance.
UNAIDS reported that HIV prevention services in sub-Saharan Africa have historically relied heavily on international funding, with about 80 percent of prevention funding coming from international aid.
Community-led organisations have also played a crucial role, receiving up to 25 percent of foreign HIV assistance in 2024. In some countries, these organisations reached about 22 percent of people living with HIV and as many as 60 percent of marginalised populations with essential services.
The report warned that without donor support and significantly stronger domestic investment, prevention programmes and community-led HIV services could face severe disruption or collapse.
Funding for condoms, one of the most basic HIV prevention tools, has already been cut by more than 90 percent in some countries.
A 2026 study covering 47 countries found steep reductions in community-led HIV services, including a 50 percent decline in community-led support for prevention medicines and HIV care.
Services targeting gay men and other men who have sex with men declined by 85 percent, while services for sex workers fell by 82 percent and those supporting survivors of gender-based violence declined by 72 percent.
The funding crisis is unfolding alongside growing concerns over human rights and the criminalisation of populations most at risk of HIV.
UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima warned that criminalisation, discrimination and fear of arrest can discourage people from accessing HIV testing, prevention and treatment services.
“You cannot end AIDS while criminalizing people living with and most at risk of HIV,” Byanyima said.
According to UNAIDS, 168 countries criminalised sex work in 2026, while 152 criminalised possession of small amounts of drugs. Same-sex sexual relations were criminalised in 66 countries, while 14 countries criminalised transgender people.
The report said these legal and social barriers could undermine progress made in countries such as Eswatini.
Despite these challenges, the international community adopted a new Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS in June 2026, with 149 UN Member States supporting commitments aligned with the UNAIDS Global AIDS Strategy 2026–2031.
The new targets include ensuring that 40 million people are receiving life-saving HIV treatment and that 20 million people have access to antiretroviral-based HIV prevention by 2030.
The declaration also seeks to reduce stigma and discrimination, gender inequality and violence affecting people living with or at risk of HIV to below 10 percent, while reducing the number of countries with punitive laws and policies that restrict access to HIV services.
If fully implemented, UNAIDS estimates that the commitments could avert an additional 3.2 million new HIV infections and 1.3 million AIDS-related deaths by 2030.
Eswatini’s performance therefore provides an important example of what can be achieved when HIV prevention, testing, treatment and community interventions are sustained.
The country was also among 11 countries that achieved the global 95–95–95 HIV targets in 2025, according to UNAIDS. The targets seek to ensure that 95 percent of people living with HIV know their status, 95 percent of those diagnosed are accessing antiretroviral treatment, and 95 percent of those on treatment are virally suppressed.
UNAIDS, however, cautioned that national achievements do not necessarily mean that every population has benefited equally.
Children continue to record lower levels of access to HIV testing, treatment and viral load suppression, while disparities between men and women remain in some countries.
For Eswatini, the latest recognition represents both a major public health achievement and a warning that the gains must not be allowed to reverse.
With the 2030 deadline approaching, UNAIDS has called for renewed solidarity, sustained financing and stronger protection of human rights to ensure that countries that have made significant progress remain on course.
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