Home News and resources Report warns of escalating HIV epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa

Report warns of escalating HIV epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa

Patrick Farah, Voluntary counselling and testing officer at SIDC, conducts a test on a young woman at SIDC's clinic in Beirut, Lebanon © Frontline AIDS/Diego Ibarra Sánchez 2023

A new report by Frontline AIDS in five Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, reveals an alarming surge in HIV infections across the region, with new cases rising by 116% since 2010.

Written by

02 Apr 2025

The report warns that without urgent action, the region faces a looming regional epidemic that could spiral out of control. In Egypt alone, new HIV infections have surged by an astonishing 609% since 2010. This regional surge runs contrary to global trends, which have seen a 39% decrease in new HIV infections over the same period.

Frontline AIDS’ HIV Prevention and Accountability Report:  a multi-country community perspective 2025 has warned that limited political will and inadequate funding to tackle HIV in the MENA region is resulting in a surge of HIV infections. These challenges are compounded by ongoing conflicts, huge numbers of displaced people, and humanitarian crises which are placing people and societies in the region more at risk of HIV infection.

The report analyses progress and gaps in HIV prevention and response strategies across Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia. While some countries have made strides in areas such as harm reduction for people who use drugs, HIV self-testing, and integrating or addressing HIV within the broader health system, the MENA region struggles with very high levels of stigma and discrimination against key populations (men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who inject drugs and people in prisons). Many countries have restrictive laws, increasing stigma and heavily penalise these communities, who are most vulnerable to acquiring HIV, preventing them from accessing life-saving HIV prevention and treatment services. Alarmingly, almost twenty percent of new HIV cases in the region are among young people (aged 15 – 24).

Despite the surge in HIV infections in the MENA region, it only received 1% of global HIV funding in 2023 and operated with just 15% of the funding that it requires for an effective HIV response, leaving an 85% funding gap. This shortfall, coupled with the challenges of economic instability and high inflation, has severely undermined efforts to tackle HIV as a whole, and in particular, to prevent new HIV infections. While the US is not a significant funder of HIV programmes in the MENA region, the Trump administration’s recent announcement of foreign aid cuts will place further strain on health and development budgets, exacerbating existing funding shortages and pushing us even closer to a new AIDS emergency.

Frontline AIDS is calling for immediate, coordinated and tailored action to halt the surge in HIV infections and to build a strong HIV response in the MENA region.

  • Close the funding gap: Governments in the MENA region, supported by international donors, must increase long-term investments in HIV prevention, including by leveraging innovative financing models.
  • Stronger political leadership: Governments must prioritise HIV prevention, update national strategies with measurable HIV prevention targets for each group, and ensure the meaningful involvement of civil society and key populations in decision-making.
  • End stigma and discrimination: Repeal punitive laws targeting key populations, scale up evidence-based anti-stigma programmes, and improve data collection to guide interventions.
  • Improve service delivery: Scale up HIV prevention services and support community-led organisations which are best placed to deliver these services. Invest in harm reduction services for people who use drugs and the roll out of key interventions like pre-exposure prophylaxis, medication to prevent HIV infection, or post-exposure prophylaxis, emergency treatment to prevent HIV infection after exposure, for all people, without conditions, and address shortages of essential supplies like antiretroviral treatment and condoms.
  • Integrate HIV into humanitarian responses and Universal Health Care (UHC): Ensure displaced populations and underserved communities have continuous access to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services, and improve data on HIV prevalence in humanitarian settings in MENA.

Golda Eid, Programmes Lead at Frontline AIDS says: “This is a crisis. The MENA region is being left behind. Without urgent investment and action, we could see the HIV epidemic escalating at an unprecedented rate. We already know what works. Across the region, organisations are already driving change, often with limited resources. With stronger political leadership, increased funding, and a commitment to tackling stigma and discrimination, we can turn the tide. There is still an opportunity to save lives and build a future free from AIDS in the region, but the time to act is now.”

Dr. Mohammed El Khammas, Head of International Actions at Association for the Fight Against AIDS (Morrocco) says: “This does not surprise me at all. I believe the actual numbers are much higher than those reported. The 116% increase is linked to very limited testing coverage, and the size of the key affected population is not well known, which significantly reduces its coverage. Moreover, these populations suffer from stigma and discrimination. I am convinced that this percentage will be even more alarming in the coming years if the number of HIV tests increases.”

Nadia Badran, PhD, SIDC Executive Director & President at the Social Workers’ Syndicate in Lebanon says: “This [report] reflects the reality on the ground. While the numbers highlight how much remains to be done, they also reinforce the urgent need to sustain and strengthen the HIV response. As a civil society, this motivates us to work even harder, forge meaningful partnerships, amplify our voices, and engage multiple stakeholders in taking greater responsibility for HIV prevention and care.”

The report emphasises the critical role of civil society in driving the HIV response across MENA. However, these organisations are often working in countries with shrinking civic spaces, restrictive laws, and insufficient resources. Frontline AIDS urges UNAIDS and other UN agencies to support civil society and communities by stepping up their presence and leadership in the MENA region, fostering collaboration across different countries and with humanitarian actors in the region, and holding governments accountable for delivering on the global goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat, including meeting existing HIV prevention targets.

Notes to Editors