'Extraordinary Progress' Against AIDS, 8 Million Lives Saved: Report

By Maggie Fox

The world has made "extraordinary progress" against AIDS, slashing the rate of new infections by more than a third and saving nearly 8 million lives since 2000, a new report finds.

Fifteen years of work to make sure more people get drugs that can keep them healthy and keep them from infecting others has had spectacular effects on the pandemic that has killed nearly 40 million people, the United Nations AIDS agency UNAIDS says in its report.

Distribution of condoms has averted around 50 million new HIV infections since the HIV pandemic started in the 1980s, and other programs to educate people about how HIV spreads and to encourage safe sex have helped, also.

"The world has delivered on halting and reversing the AIDS epidemic," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 

Full article and accompanying video available here: 'Extraordinary Progress'

Source: NBC News