There are calls on governments across the world to implement new recommendations for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
The World Health Organisation has released a new set of guidelines at an international conference in Kuala Lumpur, calling for treating HIV sufferers much earlier.
It says accelerated treatment could save three million lives globally by 2025 and prevent another 3.5 million new infections.
Nina Tietzel reports.
Experts in the field say the new recommendations are an important step in the fight to control HIV/AIDS.
Better access to cheap generic AIDS drugs means many more people are already getting treatment.
But health workers, particularly in poor and middle income countries, tend to wait until the infection has progressed.
The World Health Organisation now says that is too late and offering earlier access to drugs, when the immune system is still strong, enables patients to lead longer, healthier lives.
National Association of People with HIV Australia spokesman Bill Whittaker says it is good news.
"I think there is a really strong message of hope today for both developed and developing countries that we can still make really big inroads into this disease. We've got the drugs, we've got the knowledge. It's now a matter of applying that knowledge, and (it's) particularly a challenge for governments in our region and overseas, particularly low- and middle-income countries, to act now."
The latest World Health Organisation data says, in 2012, nearly 10 million people were receiving life-saving drugs.
If the new guidelines are implemented, 26 million HIV-positive people would have access to treatment, four in five of all those with the virus.
Treatment would be available to all HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding women, those with an HIV-negative partner and all children under five years old.
The medical coordinator of Medecins Sans Frontieres' Access Campaign, Dr Jennifer Cohn, says an extended and simplified treatment for children is particularly important.
"Only 34 per cent of children who need HIV therapy are actually on it right now. We're hoping that the simplification in treatment regiments and testing will really get more children onto life-saving therapy, without which most children with HIV will die before their second birthday."
It is not just about preventing deaths.
Mr Whittaker says the drugs can also help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.
"Earlier treatment results in health benefits for the individual, but, also, new research has shown that being on treatment dramatically reduces the risk of transmitting HIV to others. So, if we're going to improve people's health, if we're going to shut down the terrible spread of HIV throughout the world, we really do need to use treatment to its fullest advantage and get people on treatment as early as possible."
Australia has its own set of guidelines on HIV management, largely in line with the new World Health Organisation standard.
But experts say there is still work to be done.
An estimated 25,000 people have been diagnosed with HIV in Australia, and then there are an unknown number of people who do not know they are infected.
An associate professor at the University of New South Wales' Kirby Institute for infection and immunity, David Wilson, says infections in the country are actually rising.
"Actually, over the last 10 to 15 years, HIV infections in Australia have been increasing. This is against the trend of what we're seeing internationally across most countries. The rates of infection in Australia have not stabilised as we'd hoped, but they are continuing to rise in the last few years as well."
Wilson says that is due to a decline in condom use, as well as the fact therapy is keeping more HIV-positive people alive a lot longer so there is more potential for transmission.
Nevertheless, deaths have been dramatically reduced, thanks to the relative availability of anti-retroviral drugs.
Next July, Australia will host the International AIDS conference in Melbourne.
Bill Whittaker says Australia has the opportunity to be a leader in the fight against AIDS.
"Australia's very well-placed. We could really drive down the rates of new infections. We could be amongst the first nations to actually achieve the virtual elimination of HIV, say, in five or six years, if we really get that message out and roll treatment and prevention out to everyone in the Australian community."
Jennifer Cohn, of Medecins Sans Frontieres, says Australia also has responsibilities beyond its borders.
She says it needs to keep up its donor commitments and work with the international community.
"We do need to prioritise, you know, ensuring that these guidelines are implemented, so that we can get the most bang for our buck* and really begin to turn back the tide on this epidemic that's really been the plague of the 20th and 21st century."
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