In a report, the UN body said the global response to HIV/AIDS was at a "precarious point", adding that while treatment rates were rising and the number of deaths falling, "the success in saving lives has not been matched with equal success in reducing new HIV infections".
Death from AIDS have fallen to the lowest level this century, with fewer than 1 million people dying from AIDS-related illnesses last year, it said. But a funding crisis, prevention services not reaching vulnerable populations and discrimination remain worrying issues.
More than 77 million people around the world have become infected with HIV since the epidemic emerged in the 1980s, according to UNAIDS. Just under half, or 35.4 million people, have died from AIDS-related illnesses.