At a meeting  of HIV/AIDS experts in Sydney, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, announced that more people are becoming infected with HIV than are currently being treated. This is disappointing news in the global progress toward achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 to combat HIV/AIDS, as the world acknowledges the halfway point of the goals this year.

Although nearly two million more HIV/AIDS patients have access to anti-retroviral drugs than three years ago, new infections are spreading faster than the global campaign to treat and educate patients. There are six new infections for every one person that receives treatment. According to World Health Organization statistics, only 28% of the world's HIV/AIDS patients receive anti-retroviral drugs.

The Fourth International AIDS Society conference, attended by 5,000 delegates from 133 countries, also addressed the extremity of the problem in Asia and Africa.

"The HIV epidemic is essentially uncontrolled, uncontrolled in Africa, uncontrolled completely in Asia right now. The epidemic still is in an exponential growth phase ... and I think that is likely to continue," stated Dr. Brian Gazzard, chairman of the British HIV Association.

The alarming statistics suggest there needs to be a greater focus on preventative measures to close the gap between treatment and infection rates. Effective prevention strategies such as condom distribution, needle exchanges and basic education, reach only 15% of the population of developing nations.

"The proven prevention modalities are not accessible to any substantial proportion of the people who need them," Fauci concluded. "Although we are making major improvements in the access to drugs, clearly prevention must be addressed in a very forceful way."