GENEVA: Decisions political leaders take this year will be decisive whether a target to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 can be reached, the United Nations said Monday.

Figures from 2023 show a global improvement in the number of new infections, the treatment of HIV-positive patients and a fall in the number of fatalities, but UNAIDS warned such progress remains fragile.

Nearly 40 million people are living with HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS, the new UN report said. Around 1.3 million new infections were recorded last year, an increase of 100,000 compared to 2022 but a significant fall since a peak of 3.3 million in 1995.

But the long-term trend is still way off a UNAIDS target of 330,000 new infections next year.

Figures for AIDS-related deaths are also down, from 670,000 in 2022 to 630,000 last year, according to the report.