A new report has been found that the availability of antiretroviral drugs in low and middle income nations grew by more than 20 per cent from 2010 to 2011.

The report according also found that the epicentre of the crisis remained in Africa, where great strides have been made in domestic funding and treatment, but where 1.2 million people died of AIDS-related causes last year, the bulk of the 1.5 million deaths worldwide.

Following that release of the report, experts warned that deaths from HIV/AIDS are rising in parts of Asia and central Europe and the global response must accelerate.

The report by UNAIDS said the 300,000 deaths in south and east Asia last year were the largest outside of Africa, and mounting infections and deaths in Eastern Europe and central Asia showed no sign of slowing down.

It found that one of the chief accomplishments in the world response is that now more than eight million people - a record number in low- and middle-income countries -are getting treated for HIV, making up 54 per cent of people in need.

The rise in drug coverage in 2011 was accompanied by a dramatic 31 per cent drop in deaths from AIDS-related causes in sub-Saharan Africa compared to the peak of the epidemic in 2005.

“But access (to treatment) is not universal. We still have a problem with access in Asia, in Eastern Europe, Central Asia so we need to redouble the effort,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe.

Source: Guardian Newspaper