Studies consistently show that young people believe HIV and STIs are things that happen to other people.
HIV/AIDS & STIs: The Silent Resurgence
- Why HIV and STIs Are Rising Again
- Why the GenZs Are Paying the Price
For decades, the world celebrated hard-won progress against HIV and AIDS. New infections fell, treatments improved, and awareness campaigns blanketed communities with life-saving information. But since the Covid 19 era, that progress began to reverse.
New HIV infections rose across the world. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are surging across Europe, North America, and beyond. And the generation born after the AIDS crisis, the one that never witnessed the fear, the funerals, the urgency; is now the most vulnerable.
The reason is not a new virus. It is a perfect storm of complacency, funding cuts, and the dismantling of the very systems that once kept people informed and safe.
The statistics that the world is experiencing right now, tell a sobering story.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), in 2025, 1.2 million people became newly infected with HIV, and 570,000 died of AIDS-related illnesses. Around 9 million of the 41 million people living with HIV were not on treatment, and almost half of all children living with HIV lacked access to antiretroviral therapy. UNAIDS has warned that without urgent action, more than 3 million people could become infected with HIV by 2030.
The picture for other sexually transmitted infections is equally alarming. Syphilis cases in Europe have risen by approximately 50% over the past decade, while gonorrhea cases have surged by more than 200%.
Chlamydia infections continue to climb. In Canada, rates of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia have consistently increased, with particularly notable surges in infectious and congenital syphilis. Health experts point to “casual hookups and a decline in safe sex practices due to a diminished fear of HIV/AIDS” as key contributing factors.
Why have people become negligent again?
The short answer is that success bred complacency. And complacency, in the absence of sustained education, breeds ignorance. Treatment optimism has trivialized risk. When HIV became a manageable chronic condition rather than a death sentence, the fear that once drove precautionary behavior began to fade.
As one commentary put it, “The perception that ‘HIV is now treatable’ has trivialized the risk, diminished the fear, and lulled prevention into complacency. Condoms have disappeared from the scene, testing has lost priority”. Even among healthcare professionals, the dangerous idea persists that only those who “seem at risk” need testing.
Prevention fatigue has set in. Decades of messaging have led to a phenomenon researchers call “prevention fatigue and the normalization of HIV among youth.” Youth disengagement is not simply ignorance, it is a product of systemic oversaturation and the social repositioning of HIV in a post-crisis era. When an issue is everywhere, it paradoxically becomes invisible.
Studies consistently show that young people believe HIV and STIs are things that happen to other people. In the Maldives, 87% of youth in one region and 93% in another believed they would not get HIV despite engaging in risk behaviors.
In Thailand, 28% of students had a false perception of low HIV risk. The virus has become, in the words of one study, a “faceless disease” abstract, distant, someone else’s problem.
The Disappearance of Education and Awareness
The most damning factor in this resurgence is not individual behavior. It is the systemic withdrawal of the very tools that once shaped that behavior: education programs and public awareness campaigns.
Funding cuts have devastated prevention infrastructure. In early 2025, a stop-work order from the US government triggered a worldwide funding crisis for HIV and sexual health programs. The impact was immediate and severe. Sixty percent of surveyed organizations reported disruption to their core HIV services.
The funding loss halted access to PrEP, antiretroviral therapy, education, harm reduction services, and stigma reduction efforts, placing young people at immediate risk.
Across several African regions, PrEP initiations declined by 31% to 64%, voluntary medical male circumcision by 65% to 88%, and condom distribution by more than 50%. PEPFAR prevention spending fell 51% from 2024 to 2025, and more than 1,700 clinics and service sites closed, with over 16,000 full-time positions lost.
Public awareness campaigns have disappeared. In France, professionals working in AIDS prevention are deeply concerned about the reduction of HIV information campaigns, particularly among young people. A survey found that 40% of young French people believe a vaccine exists to prevent HIV transmission, a dangerous misconception that reflects a collapse in public education. The perception of a decreasing media and official presence has reinforced the image of AIDS “disappearing” among young people.
The result is a misinformed generation. Survey data from 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa revealed that only 36% of young men and 30% of young women could correctly identify methods to prevent HIV transmission and dispel common misconceptions.
The resurgence of HIV and STIs is not inevitable. It is a policy failure, and it can be reversed. Governments must restore funding for prevention and education. The cuts to PEPFAR, the closure of clinics, and the elimination of school-based HIV education are direct causes of the current crisis. These decisions must be reversed.
Public awareness campaigns must return. The generation that came of age after the AIDS crisis needs to be reached where they are: on social media, in schools, in community spaces. Campaigns must be adapted to modern formats and platforms, not abandoned.
Comprehensive sex education must be prioritized. Young people consistently report gaps in evidence-based sexuality education, with key prevention tools such as condoms, PrEP, and PEP excluded or poorly explained. This must change.
Communities must break the silence. Stigma and discrimination continue to prevent people from seeking testing and treatment. The world once came together to fight HIV and AIDS. That solidarity saved millions of lives. But solidarity is not a one-time achievement. It must be sustained. It must be funded. And it must be passed on to every new generation.
The young people of today are not reckless. They are uninformed, because the systems that once informed them have been dismantled. They are not indifferent. They are unaware, because the campaigns that once reached them have gone silent.
We cannot afford another generation lost to a preventable virus. The tools exist. The knowledge exists. What is missing is the will to use them.
