HIV treatment to 15 million people in 2015 goal achieved.

By Estella Jones

The goal to get HIV treatment to 15 million people by the end of 2015 has already been met, says the United Nations Aids agency.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 700,000 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 2.6 million per year to 1.8 million, and Aids-related deaths have gone down from 1.6 million to 1.2 million.