The Elton John AIDS Foundation reached 523,000 people with HIV services across 68 countries in 2025. Progress Needs Protecting. Global funding cuts disrupted healthcare services, with clinics closing, prevention programmes stopping and communities facing barriers to essential care. During the year, it tested 230,692 people for HIV, distributed 57,688 self-test kits and initiated 26,857 people on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). It also awarded 44 grants totalling $18,768,059 and expanded the Rocket Fund to $200 million in September 2025 to address growing needs.
How global funding cuts threatened HIV treatment programmes
According to the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s report, the global HIV response entered one of its most challenging periods in early 2025 after international funding was withdrawn. According to the welcome letter from Elton John, David Furnish and Anne Aslett, “Clinics closed their doors. Health workers were sent home. Prevention programs stopped overnight.” The report also states that millions of people living with or at risk of HIV were left without the treatment and care needed to sustain their health. These disruptions affected services at a time when communities were already facing stigma, criminalisation and poverty.In March 2025, the foundation launched the Rocket Response Fund to prevent interruptions to HIV services following cuts to United States foreign aid. The annual report states that “Around two-thirds of partners in Africa and Asia reported immediate disruptions”, including clinic closures, suspended laboratory services, medication shortages and halted prevention programmes. The fund supported interventions intended to maintain access to essential healthcare. The report documents support for LGBTQ+-friendly health centres in Uganda, staffing and laboratory testing in Vietnam, HIV testing kits and condoms in Cameroon, and hotline counselling for LGBTQ+ communities in the Philippines.
PC: Elton John AIDS Foundation’s report
How the foundation supported HIV testing and treatment in 2025
The foundation reported awarding 44 grants totalling $18,768,059 in 2025 to support community-led initiatives. Its annual impact figures recorded 230,692 people tested for HIV, alongside the distribution of 57,688 self-test kits. The foundation also reported initiating 20,984 people on antiretroviral therapy (ART), which is used to treat HIV. These figures formed part of its reported efforts to expand access to diagnosis, treatment and prevention services across the countries where its partners operated.Prevention was another component of the foundation’s work. During 2025, it initiated 26,857 people on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a medication used to prevent HIV infection, and funded PrEP programmes across 26 countries. The report also recorded 52,199 people connected with mental health services and 9,686 healthcare providers, advocates and changemakers trained. According to the report, these activities were intended to strengthen frontline services and improve the quality of care for communities most affected by HIV.
How Elton John’s foundation expanded the Rocket Fund to $200 million
The foundation also reported expanding the Rocket Fund to $200 million in September 2025 in response to escalating global needs. The annual report describes the fund as a long-term approach focused on innovative, community-led programmes for people most at risk of HIV. Its five strategic priorities include advancing rights and inclusion, strengthening community movements, innovating for equitable healthcare access, reaching underserved communities and mobilising additional funding. The report states that, since 2020, the Rocket Fund and its partners had reached more than 2.49 million people, including 696,000 young people, across 76 countries through more than 285 grants.Scientific developments also featured prominently in the foundation’s account of the year. In their welcome letter, the foundation’s leaders highlighted twice-yearly injections that prevent HIV, describing them as a significant development in prevention. The report cautions that scientific progress must be accompanied by access to ensure that new interventions reach the people who need them. It also describes the foundation’s work with partners across sub-Saharan Africa to improve access to long-acting injectable PrEP for young women and LGBTQ+ communities.
How Elton John’s foundation supported HIV programmes in 55 countries
The 2025 annual report presents the foundation’s work as a combination of emergency support, prevention, treatment, mental health services and longer-term investment in community organisations. It records 133 funded programmes with grants spanning 68 countries during the year. The foundation also reported supporting community-led movements, networks and coalitions in 55 countries, alongside programmes advancing legal protections and the rights of people living with or affected by HIV in 21 countries.The foundation emphasised the importance of maintaining support for HIV services and ensuring that advances in prevention reach affected communities. Elton John, the foundation’s founder, said in the annual report: “The world can end AIDS. What is missing is courage. The courage not to look away.” The report presents the foundation’s 2025 results against a backdrop of international funding disruption, highlighting its recorded reach of 523,000 people with HIV services across 68 countries and its continued investment in programmes addressing prevention, treatment and barriers to care.