Last year, the number of people tested for HIV more than doubled in dozens of countries, which has led to an improved number of patients being detected and treated.
 
More than 16,000 adults in Thailand participated in the clinical trials which represents the first break through which has made AIDS change from being a virtual death sentence to a chronic but manageable disease for many patients.
 
The vaccine regime was safe and was reduced by 31% chance of infection with the AIDS causing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
 
The possibility of a vaccine against this dreaded disease is a huge success after a 30-year long battle against AIDS. The reason they chose Thailand for this study was because the vaccine was based on the subtype B and E strains of HIV common there.
 
The huge global effort on AIDS, financed by the U.S., European countries and other donors ensured that growing numbers of children with AIDS also benefited from the life-saving drug therapies.
 
The number of expectant mothers who received the medicines to prevent from infecting their babies with HIV also rose considerably.
 
The report filed by the United Nations also had sobering news. More than a million people were put on drugs last year which will be needed for a lifetime but 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2007, the latest year for which the estimates were available.