NEWS RELEASE:MORE THAN FOUR MILLION HIV-POSITIVE PEOPLE NOW RECEIVINGLIFE-SAVING TREATMENT

More than 4 million peop le in low- and middle-income countries werereceiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the close of 2008. This represents a 36% increase in one year and aten- fold increase over five years, according to a new report released today by the World Health Organization(WHO), th e United Natio ns Childre n s Fund (UNICEF) and the Joint United Na tio ns Programme on HIV/AIDS(UNAIDS) .Towards UniversalAccess:Scaling Up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in th e Health Sector highlights other gains,including expanded HIV testin g and counselling and improved access to services to prevent HIV transmission frommoth er to child.