article_snippet: But research published in July by the United Nations showed AIDS-related deaths worldwide dropped to 1.5 million last year, from 1.7 million the year before.
article_snippet: That was the sharpest annual decline since the epidemic's peak in 2004 .
article_snippet: and 2005 - and marked a 35 per cent drop from the 2.4 million deaths in both those years.
article_snippet: New infections also fell to 2.1 million last year, down 38 per cent compared to the 3.4 million in 2001.