The world has finally reached "the beginning of the end" of the AIDS pandemic that has infected and killed millions in the past 30 years, according to a leading campaign group fighting HIV.

The number of people newly infected with HIV over the past year was lower than the number of HIV-positive people who joined those getting access to the medicines they need to take for life to keep AIDS at bay.

But in a report to mark World AIDS Day on Monday, the ONE campaign, an advocacy group working to end poverty and preventable disease in Africa, warns that reaching this milestone does not mean the end of AIDS is around the corner.