LONDON (AP) — For the first time in the global AIDS epidemic that has spanned four decades and killed 35 million people, more than half of all those infected with HIV are on drugs to treat the virus, the United Nations said in a report released Thursday. 
 
 AIDS deaths are also now close to half of what they were in 2005, according to the U.N. AIDS agency, although those figures are based on estimates and not actual counts from countries. 
 
 Experts applauded the progress, but questioned if the billions spent in the past two decades should have brought more impressive results. The U.N. report was released in Paris where an AIDS meeting begins this weekend. 
 
 "When you think about the money that's been spent on AIDS, it could have been better," said Sophie Harman, a senior lecturer in global health politics at Queen Mary University in London. 
 
 She said more resources might have gone to strengthening health systems in poor countries. 
 
 "The real test will come in five to 10 years once the funding goes down," Harman said, warning that countries might not be able to sustain the U.N.-funded AIDS programs on their own. 
 
 The Trump administration has proposed a 31 percent cut in contributions to the U.N. starting in October. 
 
 According to the report , about 19.5 million people with HIV were taking AIDS drugs in 2016, compared to 17.1 million the previous year. 
 
 UNAIDS also said there were about 36.7 million people with HIV in 2016, up slightly from 36.1 million the year before. 
 
 In the report's introduction, Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS' executive director, said more and more countries are starting treatment as early as possible, in line with scientific findings that the approach keeps people healthy and helps prevent new infections. Studies show that people whose virus is under control are far less likely to pass it on to an uninfected sex partner. 
 
 "Our quest to end AIDS has only just begun," he wrote. 
 
 The report notes that about three-quarters of pregnant women with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, now have access to medicines to prevent them from passing it to their babies. It also said five hard-hit African countries now provide lifelong AIDS drugs to 95 percent of pregnant and breast-feeding women with the virus. 
 
 "For more than 35 years, the world has grappled with an AIDS epidemic that has claimed an estimated 35 million lives," the report said. "Today, the United Nations General Assembly has a shared vision to consign AIDS to the history books." The death toll from AIDS has dropped dramatically in recent years as the wide availability of affordable, life-saving drugs has made the illness a manageable disease. 
 
 But Harman said that "Ending AIDS" — the report's title — was unrealistic. 
 
 "I can see why they do it, because it's bold and no one would ever disagree with the idea of ending AIDS, but I think we should be pragmatic," she said. "I don't think we will ever eliminate AIDS so it's possible this will give people the wrong idea." ||||| Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 Deaths linked to Aids have halved in a decade, official figures shows. 
 
 The condition, which is caused by HIV, used to be one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. 
 
 A report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) showed deaths had fallen from a peak of 1.9 million in 2005 to 1 million last year. 
 
 It said the "scales have tipped", with more than half of people getting drug treatment for the first time. 
 
 An HIV infection cannot be cured - it can only be contained with daily doses of antiretroviral therapy. 
 
 Unchecked, it destroys the immune system, causing Aids. At this point people tend to die from other "opportunistic infections" such as tuberculosis. 
 
 Worldwide, 36.7 million are living with HIV and 53% of them are getting the therapy that gives a near-normal life expectancy. 
 
 Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAids, said: "We met the 2015 target of 15 million people on treatment and we are on track to double that number to 30 million and meet the 2020 target. 
 
 "We will continue to scale up to reach everyone in need and honour our commitment of leaving no-one behind." 
 
 UNAids said eastern and southern Africa were "leading the way" and had cut new HIV infections by nearly a third since 2010. 
 
 Life expectancy has increased by 10 years over the past decade too. 
 
 The agency has set a series of goals known as the 90-90-90 targets. 
 
 The aim is for 90% of people with HIV to be diagnosed, 90% of those to get therapy and 90% of those to have their infection suppressed, by 2020. 
 
 In 2016 the figures were 70%, 77% and 82% respectively. 
 
 Mr Sidibe added: "Communities and families are thriving as Aids is being pushed back." 
 
 However, the agency warned that inadequate treatment in north Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Eastern Europe had seen death rates increase sharply. 
 
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– For the first time in the global AIDS epidemic that has spanned four decades and killed 35 million people, more than half of all those infected with HIV are on drugs to treat the virus, the UN said Thursday. AIDS deaths are also now close to half of what they were in 2005, according to the UN AIDS agency, although those figures are based on estimates and not actual counts from countries. According to the report, about 19.5 million people with HIV were taking AIDS drugs in 2016, per the AP. About 36.7 million people had HIV last year, up slightly from 36.1 million in 2015, meaning 53% were taking drugs. AIDS deaths, meanwhile, fell to 1 million from the high of 1.9 million in 2005, reports the BBC. Experts applauded the progress, but questioned if the billions spent in the past two decades should have brought more impressive results. The UN report was released in Paris where an AIDS meeting begins this weekend. "When you think about the money that's been spent on AIDS, it could have been better," said Sophie Harman, a senior lecturer in global health politics at Queen Mary University in London. "The real test will come in five to 10 years once the funding goes down," Harman said, warning that countries might not be able to sustain the UN-funded AIDS programs on their own. The Trump administration has proposed a 31% cut in contributions to the UN starting in October.