The Director-General of the World Health Organization said at an international AIDS conference in Montreal today that increasing inequality could reverse a decade of progress made in the fight against HIV.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who addressed the AIDS 2022 conference via video, said that COVID-19, inflation, and cuts in foreign aid by wealthy countries deepen the divide between rich and poor countries.

He says that although the number of HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths is much lower than it was a decade ago, this progress can easily be reversed.

Ghebreyesus says he is concerned that access to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment tools often depends on where people live and how much money they have.

The International AIDS Conference continues until Tuesday at the convention center in downtown Montreal.

More than 9,000 delegates from around the world were scheduled to attend in person, with another 2,000 registered to participate remotely.