As countries commemorate the World Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Day 2025, Roche Diagnostics has called for urgent investment in Africa’s health systems, particularly diagnostics, as shifting donor priorities threaten to slow the progress made in the continent’s decades-long fight against Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
In a policy paper marking the International AIDS Society’s 2026 “Road to Rio” campaign, themed #RethinkRebuildRise, the Executive Vice-President for Diagnostics, Africa at Roche Diagnostics, Dr. Allan Pamba, said Africa is at a new inflection point that demands bold action and fresh thinking to protect the gains achieved over the past two decades.
Pamba, who began his medical career treating HIV patients in Kenyan hospital wards 20 years ago, said millions of Africans are alive today because diagnosis is faster, treatment more accessible and communities more involved in driving care. He noted that laboratory networks, integrated testing programmes and local technical expertise have all developed at a pace once considered unimaginable.
Pamba, however, warned that global HIV funding, which has long combined domestic budgets with substantial donor support, is now facing significant pressures.
“Major programmes are under strain, budgets are tightening and donors are shifting to a broader array of global health threats. For essential health services to continue, Africa must reinforce the systems that sustain them—particularly diagnostics—and do so proactively, in haste,” Pamba said.
Pamba highlighted a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report advocating locally manufactured, quality-assured diagnostics and medicines to boost supply-chain resilience. He said WHO, working with African governments, the Global Fund and Unitaid, is supporting high-volume laboratories and point-of-care testing to improve regional self-reliance.
According to Pamba, Africa’s next major step is to move decisively toward integrated testing models that maximise existing laboratory infrastructure by combining HIV, TB, Hepatitis and HPV testing on shared platforms.
He cited South Africa’s national laboratory network as a successful case study, where integrated systems enabled rapid scale-up of viral load testing through coordinated sample transport and shared high-volume equipment.
Pamba said integration lowers operational costs, reduces turnaround times, increases reach into primary health centres, improves preparedness for pandemics and strengthens national continuity of care.
The model, he added, is especially critical as global funding becomes less predictable.
“To protect essential services during periods of uncertainty, countries must align infrastructure, workforce and financing,” he said, noting that training and retaining laboratory professionals and embedding diagnostics in national budgets are key to building resilience.
Pamba urged African governments to adopt domestic financing reforms such as direct procurement of key diagnostics, strategic reallocation of funds to safeguard high-impact services, and public-private partnerships designed around national health priorities. He said these approaches are not intended to displace donor support but to ensure external contributions “are leveraged rather than depended upon.
Pamba emphasised that the future of Africa’s HIV response will rely on long-term collaboration among governments, civil society, donors, health workers and industry.
“Progress is possible even in the most challenging circumstances. We now have an opportunity to safeguard the gains we’ve made and build systems that will carry Africa into the next generation of health challenges,” he said.
The call comes as African countries begin preparing for the 2026 International AIDS Conference in Rio, where the global community is expected to redefine strategies for ending the epidemic amid tightened funding and emerging health threats.
“We should be navigating ahead by maintaining effective disease responses through innovative domestic financing models, a critical path forward. With direct procurement of critical diagnostics, strategic funding reallocation to safeguard high-impact services, public–private partnerships aligned with national priorities and budget reforms that place diagnostics at the centre of health planning, our destination is in sight.
“These efforts are not about replacing global support, but rather ensuring that external contributions are leveraged rather than depended upon. The most resilient systems are those built on long-term partnerships between governments, civil society, donors, health workers and industry, co-creating solutions with transparency and shared responsibility,” Pamba noted.
