Global funding cuts are threatening progress against HIV and AIDS, with the International AIDS Society warning that reduced donor support is slowing access to prevention innovations and widening gaps between scientific advances and delivery, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In the United States, funding decisions under the current administration are redirecting money away from community-based HIV care toward health departments, a move critics say jeopardizes frontline services and could raise transmission risks. Research presented at AIDS 2026 indicates that US funding cuts are disrupting both HIV programmes and related research, potentially undoing years of progress. Despite medical advances, mother-to-child transmission remains a major challenge, and implementation gaps, health-system weaknesses, and stigma continue to limit pediatric access to prevention and treatment tools. Studies of US-supported HIV care show substantial declines in pediatric treatment across multiple countries, with tens of thousands fewer children receiving therapy, signaling a widening gap in the AIDS response. Taken together, the reports highlight a global funding crunch’s broad and uneven effects on prevention, treatment, and research for children and adults alike.