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GENEVA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- As the world prepares to mark World Aids Day, UNAIDS said Monday that 18.2 million people were using antiretroviral therapy as of June this year, up from 15 million two years ago.
According to UNAIDS' latest report, 36.7 million people were living with HIV by the end of 2015, a year which saw 2.1 million new infections across the world.
Over half of all people infected by the virus, or 19 million, are located in east and southern Africa, with a further 6.5 million living in western and central parts of the continent.
"The good news is that countries are getting on the fast-track to reach more people with treatment. In just six months, there has been an additional 1 million people that have access to treatment," said UNAIDS' director of Strategic Information and Evaluation Department Peter Ghys.
"We seem to be on track to actually reaching 30 million people with antiretroviral drugs by 2020," he added.
While much progress has been made over the years, with AIDS-related deaths decreasing and access to life-saving treatment increasing, the report underlined the vulnerability of young women aged 15 to 24 years old, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the findings, this key population group not only faces high risk of HIV infection, it also has to contend with low rates of testing and poor adherence to treatment.
By 2020, UNAIDS hopes that 90 percent of people living with HIV will know their HIV status, and that 90 percent of those who know their HIV-positive status are accessing treatment and 90 percent of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads.
