Webinar – “HIV prevention at a crossroads: Why we still need an HIV vaccine”

Despite huge progress in preventing HIV in recent decades, HIV remains a major global health challenge. In 2025, 38 million people are living with HIV worldwide, and 1.5 million still acquire HIV each year. Unequal access to HIV testing, prevention and treatment, alongside rising drug resistance, prevents sustainable control of the pandemic. This is especially the case in resource-limited settings where key and vulnerable populations continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. These challenges are now compounded by recent US government funding cuts to HIV programmes in more than 50 countries that received critical support through PEPFAR, including those funded via USAID. This humanitarian crisis is unfolding as increasingly effective HIV prevention tools are becoming available, including lenacapavir highlighting the widening gap between scientific progress and political commitment.

In this era of choice in HIV prevention alongside escalating humanitarian crises, the role of an HIV vaccine requires renewed attention. An effective vaccine that offers long-term protection remains essential to realizing a world where HIV no longer presents a threat to public health, particularly by helping overcome persistent access barriers to existing prevention tools. While no HIV vaccine is licensed to date, cutting-edge HIV vaccine science, guided by novel approaches to vaccine design, such as germline targeting, is bringing a new generation of HIV vaccine candidates into clinical testing. Yet, HIV vaccine research and development lacks sustainable and sufficient funding and broad political commitment. The recent US policy shifts are further threatening the scientific pipeline, with clinical trials cancelled, risking the foundation of trust, investment and global partnerships cultivated over the past four decades. 

To mark HIV Vaccine Awareness Day 2025, the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise of IAS – the International AIDS Society – and IAVI welcome the global HIV community to join us for a discussion on the continued need for an HIV vaccine in the context of the expanding HIV prevention landscape and uncertain geopolitical environment. Panellists and audience members are invited to explore the potential public health impact of an HIV vaccine, including related socioeconomic and equity considerations. Participants will further reflect on the rising threat to vaccine science and why investments in HIV vaccine R&D remain a strategic priority in the global HIV response.