A United Nations report released Wednesday says the world has made "extraordinary" achievements in the past year at combating HIV, but that greater efforts are still needed to end the global epidemic.
The report, led by the World Health Organization, found that the number of new HIV infections has dropped by 15 percent in the past decade. It also reported a 22 percent decrease in AIDS-related deaths over the past five years.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the world is "finally in a position to end the epidemic," but urged international donors to meet the estimated $24 billion needed annually to fully fund global initiatives.
The report, released one day before World AIDS Day on Thursday, said that financial cutbacks by governments and aid groups led to a drop of nearly $1 billion in domestic and international HIV funding in 2010.
The U.N. estimates that 34 million people around the world are living with HIV.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
