“I am scared because I am back again here in South Africa, Durban in difficult times. The world is facing many other competing priorities such as terrorism, migration and so many issues.

“I am seeing for the first time the decline on financing from donors, 13 out of 14 donors have reduced their contributions to the response,”  Dr Sidibe said.

He urged countries to increase domestic revenue to supplement funding cut from donors in the fight against HIV, AIDS and Tuberculosis.

“If we continue with this trend , we will not be able to end AIDS by 2030. We will have a rebound in this epidemic.

“We will have resistance, we will lose our investments, and we will have to pay more later,” said Dr Sidibe.

Dr Sidibe further called for the strengthening of health institutions to reach out to areas where it is needed most.