More than four million HIV-positive people now receiving life-saving treatment

More than four million people in low- and middle-income countries were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the close of 2008, representing a 36% increase in one year and a 10-fold rise over five years, according to a new report released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Titled Towards Universal Access: Scaling Up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in the Health Sector highlights other gains, including expanded HIV testing and counselling and improved access to services to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child, "this report shows tremendous progress in the global HIV/AIDS response," said WHO Director General Margaret Chan. "But we need to do more. At least five million people living with HIV still do not have access to life-prolonging treatment and care. Prevention services fail to reach many in need. Governments and international partners must accelerate their efforts to achieve universal access to treatments," she added.