Significant progress has been made in reducing HIV and AIDS rates, but children remain especially vulnerable to the virus, the Holy See’s diplomatic representative to the United Nations said in a July 10 address.“The number of new HIV infections has declined in most regions since 2010, with the greatest decreases in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Msgr. Marco Formica, interim chargé d’affaires of the Vatican’s permanent observer mission at the U.N. Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia served as the Vatican’s U.N. permanent observer from 2019 until his appointment in March as papal nuncio to the U.S.Msgr. Formica spoke during the U.N.’s 2026 high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS, held under the theme “United to End AIDS.”
The meeting takes place every five years at the U.N. Secretariat in New York. This year’s sessions were held June 22-23, with additional speakers scheduled for July 10.Progress, but ongoing challengesIn his address, Msgr. Formica said the Holy See “acknowledges the progress that has been accomplished in preventing and treating HIV and AIDS in the past five years,” and commended the “great strides made overall” since the first high-level meeting in 2001.According to UNAIDS, new HIV infections have dropped by 65% since 1995, when an average of 3.5 million people annually contracted the virus. “Having access and adherence to antiretroviral treatment, people with HIV can live longer and lead healthier lives,” Msgr. Formica said.
However, as of 2025, nearly 41 million people were living with HIV globally. More than half, 51%, are women and girls, and 1.3 million are children ages 14 and under.Children “particularly vulnerable”Msgr. Formica described children as “particularly vulnerable to HIV,” citing “gaps in both diagnosis and treatment.”Citing the U.N. Secretary-General’s report to the conference, he said those gaps “mean that the 3% of HIV patients that are children account for 12% of deaths due to HIV.”The report stressed that “AIDS is not over,” and that “the global HIV response is at a critical juncture” due to funding declines, debt burdens in affected nations, increasing humanitarian crises, and “a regression in human rights.”Msgr. Formica also noted a lack of testing and treatment for at-risk and HIV-positive mothers, and urged “quality” care for women before, during, and after pregnancy.“It is vital to ensure early testing and consistent access to treatment for children with HIV in child-friendly formulations,” he said.
Call for continued actionWhile “multisectoral partnerships” have made care more available and affordable, “many are still excluded” from HIV and AIDS treatment, “mostly in the developing world,” he said.He called for strengthening healthcare systems and research in developing nations, quoting Pope Leo XIV’s 2025 visit to a hospital in Lebanon: “We cannot conceive of a society that races ahead at full speed clinging to the false myths of wellbeing, while at the same time ignoring so many situations of poverty and vulnerability.”Catholic healthcare institutions, which “provide approximately a quarter of all HIV-related care worldwide,” will continue working to “ensure that all people living with HIV receive treatment and care in line with their inherent human dignity,” Msgr. Formica said.