By MONICA KAYOMBO, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
INTERNATIONAL AIDS Society (IAS) President, Beatriz Grinsztejn has challenged governments, donors and global health partners to rethink and rebuild the global HIV response, warning that scientific breakthroughs alone will not end the AIDS epidemic without stronger political commitment, equitable access and social justice.
Officially opening the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) in Rio de Janeiro under the theme “Rethink. Rebuild. Rise.”, Prof. Grinsztejn said the world was gathering at a defining moment marked by geopolitical tensions, shrinking funding for HIV programmes and increasing discrimination against communities most affected by HIV.
Welcoming delegates to her home country during the official opening of the 2026 Aids conference on Monday, she described Brazil’s hosting of the conference as a powerful statement that investing in universal healthcare is a deliberate political choice capable of transforming lives.
“Brazil hosting this conference is a statement. The country has shown the world that a bold public health response, built on the pillars of its universal access health system, is a political decision – that is both a lesson and an inspiration,” she said.
She noted that while Latin America and the Caribbean have made significant progress, they remain among the few regions where new HIV infections continue to increase, underscoring the need for renewed action.
Prof. Grinsztejn said delegates had gathered to confront difficult questions about power, resources and accountability in the global HIV response.
“We will ask hard questions. We will demand honest answers. And we will speak truth to power,” she declared.
Reflecting on three decades of scientific progress, she celebrated 30 years since highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) transformed HIV from a fatal diagnosis into a manageable chronic condition following its landmark presentation at the 1996 International AIDS Conference in Vancouver.
She also highlighted 15 years since the landmark HPTN 052 study laid the scientific foundation for the Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) message, describing it as another milestone that reshaped HIV treatment and prevention.
Prof. Grinsztejn said HIV treatment has evolved remarkably from complicated multi-pill regimens to single daily tablets and long-acting injectable medicines, while researchers are now exploring the promise of once-weekly oral treatment.
She added that HIV prevention has equally advanced through innovative scientific tools such as long-acting injectable prevention medicines, breakthroughs that were unimaginable at the beginning of the HIV epidemic.
“These advances could bend the curve of the pandemic – if we follow the evidence on where and how to implement them, and if we make access the number one political priority,” she said.
Despite unprecedented scientific achievements, she warned that nearly nine million people worldwide still do not have access to life-saving HIV treatment.
She attributed this gap not to scientific limitations but to political choices, inadequate financing and persistent stigma and discrimination.
“Almost nine million people are still not accessing life-saving treatment. That is because of political choices, financing failures and the grinding force of stigma and discrimination that no science, no drug can dismantle alone,” she said.
Prof. Grinsztejn further argued that many countries carrying the highest HIV burden are simultaneously weighed down by unsustainable debt, leaving them spending more on debt repayments than on healthcare.
She described this as a form of historical injustice requiring bold global reforms.
“That demands rebuilding the way we deliver the HIV response with a sustainable global solution, including debt restructuring and a serious reckoning with historical injustice,” she said.
She stressed that achieving social justice also requires recognizing health as a fundamental human right while safeguarding democratic values, which she described as inseparable from public health.
The IAS President also criticised what she described as inadequate political commitment demonstrated during the recent United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV, saying some Member States had turned away from important negotiations and the Political Declaration.
She urged delegates to ensure that AIDS 2026 becomes more than a scientific conference by influencing government policies, financing decisions and political action across the world.
“AIDS 2026 will be our moment to push back. It will put the evidence on the record. It will hear the testimonies of communities most affected by HIV.”
Calling for renewed solidarity, Prof. Grinsztejn said the conference should rise for young gay men denied healthcare, transgender people unable to access HIV prevention services, sex workers criminalised by discriminatory laws, people who inject drugs facing stigma, prisoners deprived of healthcare and millions of people living with HIV who continue to struggle to obtain sustainable treatment.
“We rise because the evidence is clear, our voices will not be silenced, and people living with and affected by HIV cannot wait.”
She concluded with a message of hope, saying political courage can still change the course of the epidemic.
“When the will exists, the seemingly impossible becomes possible.”
She urged governments, scientists, civil society organisations and affected communities to let the conference theme guide every discussion and action.
“Rethink. Rebuild. Rise. Let those three words guide our conversations, our partnerships and our actions.”
Prof. Beatriz Grinsztejn. IAS President
