1. HIV’s Unequal Impact on Women and Girls
Globally, 53% of adults living with HIV are women and girls, this reminds us that HIV is not gender-neutral. As we mark International Women’s Day, we celebrate progress on gender equality, but we must also confront the structural inequalities that continue to undermine women’s health, safety and autonomy.
HIV remains one of the most persistent expressions of gender inequality globally. Women and girls in all their diversity continue to bear a disproportionate burden of HIV risk and impact. Every week, approximately 4,000 adolescent girls and young women acquire HIV globally (1). These rates are not the result of individual failure, but of entrenched inequalities: gender-based violence, poverty, unequal access to education and healthcare, and limited power to negotiate safer sex.
HIV undermines women’s lives far beyond health outcomes alone. It affects girls’ ability to stay in school, women’s economic security, maternal health outcomes, and exposure to violence and stigma. In many settings, HIV is criminalised or highly stigmatised, further marginalising women and girls who are already excluded from services and decision-making.
Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and advancing gender equality are inseparable goals. Progress on one cannot be achieved without progress on the other.
2. A pivotal moment: Prevention Advancements and Climate-Driven Vulnerabilities
For the first time in decades, scientific innovation offers a genuine opportunity to transform HIV prevention for women and girls, if political will and investment follow.
New long-acting HIV prevention tools, such as the dapivirine vaginal ring, injectable (8-weekly) cabotegravir, and twice-yearly injectable lenacapavir, represent promising advances in women-centred prevention (2). These tools offer discreet, long-acting, partner-independent protection, which is particularly important for women who cannot safely negotiate condom use or adhere to daily oral medication.
When delivered through integrated sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), maternal health and community health services, long-acting prevention can:
● Reduce new HIV acquisitions among women and girls
● Strengthen maternal and child health outcomes
● Increase women’s autonomy over their own bodies and health decisions
● Reduce the burden of daily adherence in contexts of poverty, insecurity or violence
However, without community leadership, political commitment and sustained investment, these tools will not reach the women and girls who need them most, particularly in politically hostile or criminalised environments or environments experiencing extreme weather events.
The climate crisis is intensifying the vulnerabilities that drive HIV risk among women and girls. Evidence shows that every 1°C rise in temperature is linked to increased violence against women and girls, while climate-related shocks disrupt access to education, healthcare, and HIV services (3). Current cuts to UK climate finance risk worsening these impacts (4), undermining both gender equality and HIV prevention efforts. Without targeted investment in climate adaptation and resilience for women and girls in high-burden settings, progress toward ending AIDS by 2030 will be further threatened.
3. Women’s health beyond HIV: integration, dignity and rights
HIV responses are strongest when embedded within broader health systems rather than treated in isolation. Women do not experience HIV separately from pregnancy, contraception, cervical cancer, mental health, experience of violence, or other dimensions of their SRHR (5). Nor are these issues disconnected from HIV risk: gender-based violence, untreated sexually transmitted infections, and lack of cervical cancer screening and treatment can all increase vulnerability to HIV acquisition and worsen outcomes for women living with HIV. Addressing these challenges in silos, therefore, fails to tackle the full spectrum of risks women and girls face, underscoring the need for integrated, women-centred approaches across the HIV continuum.
Delivering integrated, women-centred services not only improves health outcomes but also strengthens economic resilience, enabling women to stay in school, remain in work, care for their families, and contribute fully to their communities and national economies.
An evidence-based, women-centred HIV response must also include harm reduction and the decriminalisation of sex work and drug use, alongside integrated health services. Integrated approaches that embed HIV prevention, treatment and care within sexual and reproductive health services, maternal health, and gender-based violence services are essential to:
● Reduce missed opportunities for care
● Improve health outcomes across the life course
● Protect women’s dignity and autonomy
● Ensure services are accessible, acceptable and safe
● Strengthen women’s economic participation and long-term financial security
International Women’s Day provides an opportunity to reaffirm that women-centred HIV responses are not a niche concern, but a cornerstone of resilient health systems and gender equality.
4. The Role of Multilateral Leadership for Women and Girls
The UK’s global leadership on gender equality and health has been most impactful when delivered through strong multilateral partnerships. These institutions are central to ensuring that innovation, funding and accountability translate into real outcomes for women and girls.
UNAIDS: provides global political leadership, coordination and accountability for the HIV response, with a strong mandate on human rights and gender equality. Sustained support is critical to ensure that women and girls, particularly adolescents, are prioritised in global strategies and that structural drivers of HIV risk are addressed.
Robert Carr Fund: supports community-led networks, including organisations led by women living with HIV. These groups are often the first to identify barriers to access and reach women facing violence and stigma.
Unitaid: drives market-shaping innovation, accelerating access to new tools such as HIV self-testing and long-acting prevention. These innovations are particularly transformative for women and girls who face barriers to daily oral PrEP or clinic-based services.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: delivers prevention and treatment at scale. In 2024, 2 million adolescent girls and young women in Global Fund-supported countries accessed HIV prevention.
5. A Call to Action on International Women’s Day
Ending AIDS by 2030 and advancing gender equality can be defining achievements of this decade — but only if UK policymakers demonstrate sustained leadership and strategic investment. The UK should:
● Maintain and strengthen political and financial support for key multilateral HIV initiatives, including UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Unitaid, and the Robert Carr Fund.
● Ensure that all HIV-related policies and funding are gender-responsive, rights-based, and inclusive of marginalised women and girls.
● Integrate HIV prevention and treatment with broader sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), maternal health, and women-centred services.
● Champion women and girls at the upcoming High-Level Meeting on HIV, placing their health, rights and empowerment at the centre of global commitments.
PQs
WAG HIV funding PQ:
A teenage girl in sub-Saharan Africa is three times more likely to acquire HIV than a teenage boy, yet funding for prevention for adolescent girls and young women remains far too low. Can the Government confirm what steps are being taken to ensure UK HIV funding specifically reaches adolescent girls and young women, and will they commit to greater transparency on how much of our HIV budget supports this group?
Long-acting PrEP PQ: Long-acting PrEP could transform HIV prevention for women and girls. Yet the multilateral organisations best placed to deliver these tools at scale, including the Global Fund and Unitaid, are facing serious funding pressures. How will the Government support these organisations in their work to scale-up these technologies to ensure they reach the women and girls who need them most?
Integration PQ:
Integrated HIV and women’s health services can improve outcomes and protect women’s autonomy, yet many programmes remain siloed. Can the Government clarify what steps it is taking to promote integrated, women-centred approaches that link HIV prevention and treatment with SRHR, maternal health, and gender-based violence services, and how it will position the UK as a global leader on this approach?
Climate PQ:
The climate crisis is intensifying vulnerabilities that increase HIV risk for women and girls, from rising violence to disrupted access to healthcare and education. Can the Government explain how UK climate finance is being used to mitigate these risks and support women and girls in high-burden settings, ensuring progress on gender equality and HIV prevention is not undermined?