Progress for the treatment of AIDS is continuously improving, as the infection rate has dropped by 33 percent since 2001, as revealed in a report released by the United Nations Monday, according to USA Today.

The numbers of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths have significantly decreased over the years, and one important factor for the progress is the expanding access to treatment. The report disclosed that the deadly disease now infects about 35.3 million people worldwide, but the good news is that more and more AIDS patients are getting treatment while the mortality rate and the infection rate are falling.

The highest peak of AIDS-related deaths were documented in 2005, when 2.3 million patients died from the illness. In 2011, the number of AIDS-related deaths reached 1.7 million, but became reduced to 1.6 million the next year, in 2012. Meanwhile, new infections numbered at 2.5 million in 2011, but were reduced to 2.3 million in 2012. Access to treatment, especially to AIDS medication, greatly helped in the progress so that as the year closed in 2012, 9.7 million HIV-positive and AIDS patients in poorer countries were able to get proper treatment, according to Reuters.

The numbers have been improving since 2001, according to the U.N. report. Every year, there has been a "52 percent drop in annual new HIV infections among children and a 33 percent reduction in newly infected adults and children combined," according to USA Today.

Other report highlights include the fact that the largest number of new infections amount to 1.6 million, and occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, while 48,000 of cases were reported to have occurred in North America. There had been 1.6 million AIDS-related deaths, with 1.2 million cases documented in sub-Saharan Africa, and 20,000 cases in North America.

UN member states came to an agreement in 2011 to target the delivery of HIV treatment to 15 million people by the year 2015, but UNAIDS' executive director Michel Sidibé said that the international community should go beyond the target. He said, "Not only can we meet the 2015 target of 15 million people on HIV treatment, we must also go beyond and have the vision and commitment to ensure no one is left behind," as reported by Reuters.