The head of UNAIDS (the United Nations agency coordinating the global HIV/AIDS response) has called for a fundamental shift in how African nations fund their health systems, warning that the continent can no longer depend on external donors. Speaking at an African Union health summit in Ghana, Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said her agency lost roughly a quarter of its funding last year after the United States and several European countries cut foreign aid, and urged African governments to prioritise domestic health spending, build local pharmaceutical industries, and pursue what she termed "health sovereignty." Byanyima also cautioned that rising restrictions on LGBTQ rights across parts of Africa are pushing vulnerable groups away from HIV testing and treatment, jeopardising hard-won gains in a region that already accounts for nearly two-thirds of the world's HIV cases and 60 percent of new infections.