HIV: UN meets goal to treat 15 million

The UN says the goal to get HIV treatment to 15 million people by the end of 2015 has already been met.

The landmark figure was reached in March - nine months ahead of schedule.

It follows decades of global efforts and investment to get anti-retroviral drugs to those in need - such as people living in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2000, when the UN first set goals to combat HIV, fewer than 700 thousand people were receiving these vital medicines.

According to UN Aids, which has a report out today, the global response to HIV has averted 30 million new HIV infections and nearly eight million AIDS-related deaths since the millennium.

Over the same time frame, new HIV infections have fallen from two point six million per year to one point eight million, and AIDS-related deaths have gone down from one point six million to one point two million.

Meanwhile, global investment in HIV has gone up from four point eight billion dollars in 2000 to more than 20 billion dollars in 2014.

UN Aids say concerted action over the next five years could end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

BBC