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The World Health Organisation's (WHO) plan to get three million people on anti-AIDS drugs by the end of 2005 is on target to meet its goal, but much more still needs to be done, the organisation said on Wednesday.
Under the WHO initiative, known as 'Three by Five', the number of people currently receiving AIDS drugs in developing countries has jumped to 700,000, from 440,000 six months ago.
However, a recent progress report on the treatment plan shows that enormous barriers remain, including a US $2-billion funding gap.
WHO director of HIV/AIDS Jim Kim told the World Economic forum in Davos, Switzerland: "We have demonstrated not only that treatment is possible, but that treatment scale-up is possible ... [but] we're still living in a world where 8,000 people a day die of HIV/AIDS, so there's no celebration here."
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