The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) announced a new collaboration to expand early HIV diagnosis across Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a press release issued by PAHO on 27 July 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The partnership aims to improve access to testing, facilitate timely linkage to care, and help reduce preventable AIDS-related deaths in the region. It was unveiled during PAHO’s satellite session at the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026). The initiative forms part of broader efforts to accelerate progress toward eliminating HIV as a public health problem in the Americas. Both organizations will combine their expertise to advance regional HIV response goals.
Despite significant progress in the HIV response across Latin America and the Caribbean, late diagnosis remains one of the main challenges to reducing new infections and AIDS-related mortality. In 2025, approximately 34% of new HIV diagnoses in the region were made at an advanced stage of infection. An estimated 32,000 people died from AIDS-related causes during the same year. Late diagnosis remains a major contributor to HIV-related illness and death, despite the availability of effective testing methods and treatments. These treatments enable people living with HIV to lead long and healthy lives.
In 2025, approximately 2.1 million people living with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean were receiving antiretroviral therapy, representing a regional treatment coverage rate of 72%. However, an estimated 900,000 people were still not receiving treatment. Loss to follow-up remains one of the major barriers to achieving regional HIV targets. The collaboration will support actions to expand access to HIV testing, including HIV self-testing and community-based service delivery models. It will also strengthen linkage to and retention in care, promote the exchange of experiences among countries, and generate evidence to scale up high-impact interventions.
“We continue to see far too many people in our region learning their HIV status only after the infection has progressed to an advanced stage, reducing opportunities to prevent serious complications and avoidable deaths,” said Monica Alonso, Chief of PAHO’s HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Viral Hepatitis, Tuberculosis and Malaria Unit.
She added that expanding access to testing and ensuring rapid linkage to care and treatment is essential to saving more lives across the Americas. Dr. Adele Benzaken, AHF’s Senior Global Medical Director, stressed that closing the remaining gaps in the HIV response requires more than having effective tools available. AHF is a nonprofit organization that provides HIV-related services in 50 countries and operates in 11 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. Benzaken noted that the partnership offers an opportunity to combine implementation experience, innovation, and technical cooperation with a regional perspective.
PAHO and AHF will work with national health authorities, community organizations, and other partners to adapt interventions to the specific needs of individual countries. The initiative aligns with global commitments to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. It will contribute to the goals of PAHO’s Disease Elimination Initiative. The collaboration will also support the priorities of the Alliance for HIV Elimination in the Americas, a regional platform led by PAHO. That platform seeks to accelerate the adoption of innovations, strengthen technical cooperation, and expand equitable access to HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.