Prince Harry Warns Millions Will Die As He Continues Princess Diana’s HIV Fight
Prince Harry has joined Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Charlize Theron and Thuso Mbedu in a new UNAIDS short film that screened at the United Nations General Assembly on 22 September 2025. The message is simple and urgent. Keep funding the HIV response or risk losing decades of hard-won progress.
Prince Harry, @MagicJohnson , @CharlizeAfrica and @ThusoMbedu unite with UNAIDS and Hollywood filmmaker @ronnyswaner to urge continued funding to end AIDS.
— UNAIDS Global (@UNAIDS) September 22, 2025
Watch their message https://t.co/sy46OlpoVN
Press release: https://t.co/s73pcYWHVp pic.twitter.com/qXspbmeiEu
What the campaign is asking for.
UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, is calling on governments and donors to restore and sustain financing for prevention, testing and treatment. The agency warns that without restored funding between now and 2029, as many as 6 million people could become newly infected with HIV, and 4 million people could die from AIDS-related causes.
Harry’s on-camera message.
In the film, Harry points to real-world consequences when treatment supply is disrupted: babies being born with HIV because their mothers could not access antiretroviral care. “Without urgent action to reverse these crippling funding cuts, 6 million more people will become infected with HIV while 4 million will die from AIDS-related causes within the next four years,” he says.
28 years on, #PrincessDiana’s empathy still echoes. She didn’t just challenge #HIV stigma around— she reshaped the public’s understanding of the epidemic, one hand-shake, one conversation, one act of kindness at a time. We honour our late Patron today by continuing that work. pic.twitter.com/oojOTuJJIt
— National AIDS Trust (@NAT_AIDS_Trust) August 31, 2025
The film was produced by Oscar-nominated writer-producer Ron Nyswaner, whose work includes Philadelphia and Fellow Travelers. It also features advocates Andiswa Cindi and Fabian Quezada alongside Johnson, Theron and Mbedu, highlighting both the scale of the problem and the people pushing for solutions.
The 2030 goal, explained.
Back in 2015, United Nations member states set a target to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Hitting that target depends on consistent funding and rights-based health services.
Carrying a family legacy.
Harry’s advocacy follows the late Princess Diana’s work on HIV awareness and care. He also co-founded Sentebale in 2006 with Prince Seeiso to support young people affected by HIV in Lesotho and Botswana, a commitment he continues to champion.
Public testing helps normalise care and fight misinformation. Harry’s HIV test with Rihanna on World AIDS Day in 2016 is a clear example of using visibility to encourage action. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus, and AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; treatment today can suppress the virus to undetectable levels. Will leaders now match the film’s message with real money?
