What’s New – News and events from our network

Ashton Josephs for the Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS

Discover news and events from our network

Read

  • UNAIDS has released a new report United to End AIDS which launched on the opening day of the International AIDS Conference. The report sets out the scale of 2025’s funding cuts and highlights that vertical transmission prevention programmes have averted nearly 4.8 million child HIV acquisitions since 2000. Read it here.
  • ViiV Healthcare and the Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS have co-authored a blog on What happens when we invest in children affected by HIV? This article is part of the Coalition’s 2026 storytelling campaign and highlights the value of partnership and the risk to financing and progress made in the work to end HIV for children. Read the article here.
  • Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) reflects on the 2026 AIDS Conference, sending one clear message: Children Can’t Wait! Doris Macharia, President of EGPAF shares her views on how we can use knowledge, innovations, and experience to end pediatric HIV. Read it here.
  • EGPAF has also published a new policy brief, Common Ground for Global Health: Pediatric HIV, setting out recommendations for expanding early infant diagnosis, child-friendly medications and integrated maternal and child health service delivery. Read it here.
  • The World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the first global mid-term assessment of progress under the Global Health Sector Strategies on HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs at AIDS 2026, marking the halfway point to the 2030 targets. Read it here.
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics published an updated policy statement, Increasing Access to Antiretroviral Therapy for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV in Infants, Children, and Youth in the United States, outlining barriers facing different age groups and recommended solutions. Read here.
  • The Developed Country NGO Delegation attended the 55th Global Fund (GF) Board meeting from 8-10 July and have devised a statement compiling their positions and reflections . Note this does not represent the views held by the Global Fund Secretariat or the Global Fund Board as a whole. Read the statement here.
  • Action against AIDS Germany and German AIDS Federation at the close of AIDS 2026 have issued a press release highlighting how due to funding cuts, the global HIV response at a critical juncture. Read it here.
  • Funders Concerned About AIDS, amfAR, Johns Hopkins University, and Data, Etc. have released Measuring the Global Impact of PEPFAR Disruptions: Findings from the PEPFAR Pulse Study – the first large-scale assessment of how recent PEPFAR disruptions have affected HIV service delivery worldwide. Read here.
  • Chiva – a charity in the UK supporting children and young people growing up with HIV, and their families. They have published a new children’s storybook to help children to understand an HIV diagnosis. Read it here.

Learn

  • Women4GlobalFund has launched a new guide; Navigating Constraining Environments in Global Fund’s Grant Cycle 8 (GC8) from a Gender-Transformative Perspective. It has been created to help advocates see how they can shape outcomes before decisions are locked in. Discover more here.
  • The Youth for Impactful Philanthropy (YIP) Fellowship alumni – part of the The Elevate Children Funder’s Group have co-authored an article on what meaningful youth engagement in philanthropy truly requires. Read it here.

Events

  • AIDS 2026, the 26th International AIDS Conference, took place 26–31 July in Rio de Janeiro under the theme Rethink. Rebuild. Rise., bringing together around 7,500 delegates. Sessions of note for children and adolescents included a UNAIDS symposium, Leading for the future: Re-centering women, children and adolescents as a pathway to sustained HIV epidemic control, and a satellite session with PATA, ViiV Healthcare, Aidsfonds and EGPAF on bridging communities and health systems for children and adolescents. Find out more about Coalition members’ and AIDS 2026 here.
  • The Coalition presented the Prize for Excellence in HIV Research Related to Children and Adolescents at the International AIDS Conference, during the session “From research to real life: Translating evidence into pregnancy, breastfeeding and paediatrics care.” Find out more here.
  • The 18th International Workshop on Pediatrics & HIV took place 24–25 July in Rio de Janeiro, opening with EGPAF’s Lynne Mofenson and ICAP’s Elaine Abrams, and featuring a session on the potential of long-acting injectable PrEP (lenacapavir) to help end pediatric HIV, alongside a panel on the impact of funding cuts on paediatric programming. Find out more here.
  • PATA participated in the 12th Symposium on Children & Adolescents with Perinatal HIV Exposure at AIDS 2026, alongside the pre-conference session on advancing HIV prevention science and access. Find out more here.
  • GNP+ convened LIVING2026 at AIDS 2026, marking ten years of Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U), and hosted a session on healing internalised stigma and reclaiming mental wellbeing for people living with HIV. Find out more here.
  • The Stephen Lewis Foundation marked 20 years of its international grandmothers’ solidarity movement at an affiliated event ahead of AIDS 2026, reflecting on how the needs of older women and caregivers should shape the future HIV response. Find out more here.
  • The Coalition marked International Youth Day on 12 August, reaffirming a commitment to ending AIDS for children and young people globally. This year’s theme was Different contexts. Common aspirations – highlighting that challenges faced by young people everywhere may vary, but their right to quality, integrated healthcare and support, freedom from stigma and discrimination remain the same. Read more here.
  • Zvandiri is taking part in the upcoming STREPP webinar, Evidence to Sustainability of Peer Provider Services for Children, Adolescents and Young People Living with HIV on 27 August 2026, from 4:30–6:00 pm EAT. The webinar will bring together evidence from the Zvandiri model, country experience and the perspectives of peer providers themselves. Register to attend here.
  • The 1st Connect to Protect International Conference on Child Protection & Prevention of Violence is taking place from 5–6 October 2026 in Athens, Greece. It is dedicated to strengthening child protection and improving outcomes for vulnerable children, adolescents, and young people. Find out more here.

Please share any updates you would like to see in our next ‘What’s New?’ feature by contacting me: Ashton.Josephs@childrenandHIV.org