Members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum have launched an Action Plan to End the HIV Epidemic (2026–2031). The plan was launched during a virtual high-level event that brought together representatives of governments, civil society organizations and international partners from across the APEC economies. 

According to the APEC HIV Project—a multistakeholder effort to accelerate progress towards ending the HIV epidemic across the Asia-Pacific region—an estimated 7 million people are living with HIV across APEC economies and 25% of new infections globally occur in APEC economies.  

While several countries are successfully approaching the 95–95–95 targets, progress remains uneven, and some continue to see rising HIV incidence. UNAIDS projections warn that, without accelerated scale-up of HIV prevention and treatment, Asia and the Pacific could see an estimated 320,000 new HIV infections annually by 2030. 

The Action Plan provides a practical roadmap to help countries strengthen political commitment, sustain financing, expand access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment, and remove barriers that continue to slow progress towards ending AIDS by 2030. 

Leonardo Chanqueo, Project Overseer of the APEC HIV Project and former head of Chile’s National HIV Programme, described the launch as “the beginning of a new phase of regional cooperation on HIV.” He stressed that while scientific tools to end AIDS already exist, many economies continue to face implementation gaps, stigma, financing challenges and legal barriers that limit access to HIV services. 

The Plan aims to address the key barriers slowing the HIV response, including declining political attention, unsustainable funding, legal and policy barriers, limited access to prevention, gaps in testing and care, delays in treatment and slow access to HIV innovations.  

The plan is built around six connected pillars, each focusing on an area where action is urgently needed. Each pillar explains the problem and suggests practical actions that governments and partners can adapt to their own context.  

Recommended actions include strengthening domestic HIV strategies and financing, reviewing laws and policies that limit access to services, expanding HIV prevention options such as PrEP, PEP and condoms, improving HIV data systems and training health workers to provide non-discriminatory, person-centred care. 

The Action Plan sets out shared targets, ways to measure progress, and recommended actions that countries can adapt to their own national contexts.   

“The challenge in ending AIDS is no longer technical. We have the tools. The challenge is sustaining the response amid fiscal pressures, health system transitions and competing priorities,” said Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “This Action Plan is more than a political signal that APEC economies remain committed to ending AIDS. It is a practical decision-making tool that gives governments and their partners a clear basis to prioritize HIV in national budgets and policy discussions, shift resources towards prevention and communities, and remove barriers that still limit access to services.” 

APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, brings together 21 economies, including countries and territories such as China, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Chile, and several Southeast Asian economies to promote trade, investment, growth, and cooperation. In the HIV field, APEC supports cross-economy collaboration on prevention, testing, treatment access, health systems, stigma reduction, and policies that help protect vulnerable and mobile populations. 

Watch launch event: