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Prince Harry has joined forces with prominent HIV defenders to issue a harsh warning.
The 41-year-old Duke of Sussex appeared in a new UNAIDS video alongside Magic Johnson, Charlize Theron and others, urging ongoing funding to prevent and treat HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). The short film was screened at the United Nations Global Rally in September 2025.
Despite millions of lives being saved thanks to treatment, “severe” cuts in funding threaten to prolong the crisis.
“Without urgent action, we will slip backwards,” Harry said in the video. “We are already seeing dramatic reductions in our HIV prevention and treatment programs.”
In the video, Theron said it estimates that if funds don’t recover, UNAIDS could lead to 4.2 million preventable deaths by 2029.
In a statement, Prince Harry said, “Now that babies are born with HIV due to a disruption to mothers’ antiretroviral treatment. A further 6 million people will be infected with HIV without urgent action to reverse these crippling funding cuts, while 4 million will die of AIDS-related causes within the next four years.
“We have proven that sustainable investment saves lives and builds a stronger community,” he continued. “To abandon this life-saving job now would be a catastrophic betrayal of progress for the millions who rely on these critical services.”
Prince Harry’s field work follows the footsteps of Princess Diana, a mother known for her crusaders for HIV and AIDS awareness, as well as the pioneering efforts to break the false stigma that casual contact can spread the disease.
The Duke of Sussex has worked with several affiliated organizations and has published two HIV tests, including one with Rihanna.
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Harry also founded the Charity Centevale to support children affected by HIV and AIDS in Lesotho, Africa. However, he and his co-founder Prince Lesotho resigned as Centeber’s patron earlier this year after a fallout between the Council of Centeber and Dr. Sophie Chandauka.
Sources close to the charity claimed to people that Chandauka had placed the organisation under what was characterized as financial tensions. Meanwhile, Chandauka claimed that “he was asked to resign after rushing to blow whi over issues of poor governance, weak enforcement control, power abuse, bullying, harassment, misogyny and devouring.”
The England and Wales Charitable Committee began an investigation into Centeber in April 2025, and concluded four months later it had found no evidence of “wide or systematic bullying, harassment, misogyny or devoured.” The committee also did not discover “overreach” by Prince Harry or Chandauka.
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A former Sentebale councillor said in a statement that they were “disappointed” by the findings and “are deeply concerned about the future of charity.” The current board has accepted the committee’s recommendations to improve how internal disputes are handled and define the role of the organization.
A spokesman for Prince Harry said after the investigation the report was “a troublesomely short in many ways, and the fact that the outcome of current chair behavior is primarily borne by children who rely on Centebert’s support, not by her.”
“Centeber was the deep personal and transformative mission of Prince Harry, founded to serve some of the most vulnerable children in Lesotho and Botswana. For 19 years, its dedicated staff and immobilizing supporters have provided important care to more than 100,000 young people in South Africa, including young people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as young people facing parenting of the prince’s prince’s prince’s nourishment. Centeber from the seed of ideas, like its name, becomes a blossoming force for good,” the statement continued.
“With Centeber’s original mission in mind, and in honor of the legacy that he and Prince Siso began, the Duke of Sussex will focus on finding new ways to continue supporting children in Lesotho and Botswana,” the statement concluded.
