The global fight against HIV/AIDS received a significant boost this week, as the United States Congress approved, and President Donald Trump signed into law, a bipartisan US$ 5.88 billion international health spending package
This fund is aimed at strengthening the global response to HIV. The law underscores renewed U.S. leadership in supporting lifesaving programmes in countries most affected by the epidemic, including Uganda.
Under the legislation signed on 3 February 2026, roughly US$ 4.6 billion has been designated for bilateral HIV support under the America First Global Health Strategy, US$ 1.25 billion is directed to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and US$ 45 million goes directly to UNAIDS — the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, welcomed the new funding at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva.
The investment would be “life-saving support for millions of people in partner countries and help to ensure that the global HIV response remains efficient, data-driven, and delivers results.” Said Winnie Byanyima in a statement
Her statement highlighted that this funding reinforces decades of U.S. partnership in combating HIV and reinforces core targets aimed at ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
The U.S. has historically been the largest single donor to the global HIV response, chiefly through initiatives like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) — a programme credited with saving more than 25 million lives worldwide since its inception.
Uganda is among the countries poised to benefit directly from the renewed emphasis on combating HIV. In late 2025, Uganda signed a five-year health partnership with the United States under the America First Global Health Strategy that could channel up to $1.7 billion into its health sector.
This funding is expected to support priority areas such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, and the strengthening of health systems.
The partnership also includes an agreement by Uganda’s government to increase its own health investments alongside U.S. support.
Before the latest U.S. funding package, disruptions in overseas aid had already threatened HIV services in Uganda. This was directly caused by the closure of USAID funding in Uganda and world at large.
UNAIDS reports undertaken in 2025 found that reductions in external support were disrupting the distribution of antiretroviral drugs and lowering the capacity of facilities providing HIV care.
Experts warned that without sustained aid, routine services such as early infant diagnosis and prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission could be jeopardised. And this is more likely to cause a more threat to and the health proficiency of countries like Uganda that have not yet built strong self reliant health institutions.
With this new funding in 2026, UNAIDS has set ambitious “95-95-95” targets — aiming for 95 % of people living with HIV to know their status, 95 % of those diagnosed to receive antiretroviral therapy, and 95 % of those on treatment to achieve viral load suppression.
Maintaining and expanding funding is critical to achieving these targets and to controlling the epidemic in high-burden regions, including East and Southern Africa.
Byanyima’s leadership has placed emphasis on evidence-based strategies and partnership with national governments, civil society, and other multilateral institutions to achieve sustainable HIV responses.
The renewed U.S. investment signals not only financial support but also a reaffirmation of international solidarity at a time when the global AIDS response faces complex challenges.