UNAids reports a striking rise in the criminalization of high-risk groups such as gay men, transgender people, sex workers, and people who inject drugs for the first time in over a decade. Countries including Mali, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, and Ghana have introduced or reinstated harsh anti-LGBTIQ+ laws. Coupled with sharp reductions in U.S. aid, this combination threatens to undo decades of progress in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, jeopardizing the goal of ending the epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.
Compiled from: “High-risk HIV groups facing record levels of criminalisation as countries bring in draconian laws,” The Guardian, July 10, 2025.