World AIDS Day: Sustaining Investment Makes Global Progress

Increased access to HIV services resulted in a 15% reduction of new infections over the past decade and a 22% decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years.

The latest report by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UNAIDS Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Response indicates that increased access to HIV services resulted in a 15% reduction of new infections over the past decade and a 22% decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years.

"It has taken the world ten years to achieve this level of momentum," says Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of WHO's HIV Department. "There is now a very real possibility of getting ahead of the epidemic. But this can only be achieved by both sustaining and accelerating this momentum over the next decade and beyond."

The report acknowledges that investment in HIV services could lead to total gains of up to US$ 34 billion by 2020 in increased economic activity and pr