About 13 million HIV-positive Africans still don't have access to the life-saving medication they require, the non-profit World Aids Campaign says.
People living in West and Central Africa are the worst affected by HIV and AIDS on the continent. Only a third of them have access to treatment, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
The main reasons for the lack of access are inventory shortages, corruption, mismanagement and a lack of political will to make sufficient funds available, delegates said at an African AIDS conference, which began last Saturday in Cape Town.
Global AIDS funding falls about a fifth short of the annual $US24 billion ($A26.4 billion) necessary to get a handle on the disease, according to UNAIDS.
"HIV testing needs to be simpler, quicker, more cost-effective and more widely available, so that we can fast-track life-saving treatments," said Michel Sidibe, executive director at UNAIDS.
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The situation in southern Africa, meanwhile, has improved. High HIV/AIDS prevalence countries - including South Africa, Malawi and Kenya - have increased access to treatment by up to 80 per cent, UNAIDS data shows.
