**Thanks to greater access to powerful drugs the HIV death toll has dropped by a tenth and more people are surviving with the virus, latest figures show.**The World Health Organization and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) says an estimated 33.4 million people worldwide are infected with HIV.
That figure is up from 33 million in 2007 as fewer are dying with HIV.
Experts say the explanation is the wider availability of antiretroviral drugs, alongside population growth.
“We cannot let this momentum wane. Now is the time to redouble our efforts, and save many more lives”
Dr Margaret Chan
World Health Organization director-general
UNAIDS and WHO estimate the number of AIDS-related deaths has declined by over 10% over the past five years as more people gained to access to the life saving treatment
They say that since the availability of effective treatment in 1996, some 2.9 million lives have been saved.
Prevention programmes
The latest report also suggests that HIV prevention programmes have had a significant impact.
It says new HIV infections have been reduced by 17% over the past eight years.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the epicentre of the global pandemic, the number of new infections has fallen by around 15% since 2001 - equating to about 400,000 fewer infections in 2008 alone.
In the same period infection rates were down by nearly 25% in East Asia, and by 10% in Sout and South East Asia.
In Eastern Europe, after a dramatic increase in new infections among injecting drug users, the rate of infection has levelled off considerably.
Director-General of WHO Dr Margaret Chan said: "International and national investment in HIV treatment scale-up has yielded concrete and measurable results.
“We cannot let this momentum wane. Now is the time to redouble our efforts, and save many more lives.”
Child infections
Antiretroviral therapy has also made a significant impact in preventing new infections in children as more HIV-positive mothers gain access to treatment preventing them from transmitting the virus to their children.
Around 200,000 new infections among children have been prevented since 2001.
In Botswana, where treatment coverage is 80%, Aids-related deaths have fallen by over 50% over the past five years and the number of children newly orphaned is also coming down as parents are living longer.
According to new data in the 2009 AIDS epidemic update, new HIV infections have been reduced by 17% over the past eight years globally.