Report raises hopes of finally ending Aids epidemic

New HIV infections and deaths from Aids are decreasing, the United Nations said, making it possible to control the epidemic by 2030 and eventually end it "in every region, in every country".

“More than ever before, there is hope that ending Aids is possible. However, a business-as-usual approach or simply sustaining the Aids response at its current pace cannot end the epidemic,” the UN Aids programme, UNAIDS, said in a global report issued ahead of an Aids conference in Melbourne next week.

It said the number infected with HIV was stabilising at around 35m worldwide. The epidemic had killed some 39m of the 78m people it has affected since it began in the 1980s.