More than 3m deaths from malaria and 22m from TB have been averted, and about 13 million people are o­n antiretroviral therapy to combat HIV.

A baby sleeps under a bednet to protect her from mosquitoes. Photograph: Rex Shutterstock

Carla Kweifio-Okai

1) Between 2000 and 2012, deaths from malariafell by 42%. Health workers attribute much of this progress to the expansion of malaria interventions, including diagnostics and treatment at the community level and greater use of insecticide-treated bednets and indoor residual sprays.

2) The UN estimates3.3m deathsfrom malaria were averted between 2000 and 2010. About 90% of these were children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa.

3) Uptake o­n insecticide-treated nets has been high in some countries. In Benin, Madagascar, Rwanda and Tanzania,more than 70%of children under five slept under nets in 2012. But this practice is not as widespread in other countries, including in Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria where about 20% of children under five slept under nets.

4) Greater access to tuberculosis treatment saved approximately22m livesbetween 1995 and 2012.

5) TB treatment success rates have risen, and remain above 85%. Despite progress, multi-drug resistant TB continues to pose serious problems, and thenumber of TB casesthat are resistant to virtually almost all drugs available is increasing.

6) South Asian countries areon trackto eliminate the neglected tropical disease visceral leishmaniasis, also known askala azar, by 2020. The disease is thesecond largest parasitic killerglobally after malaria.

7) More than 5bn treatments have been administered for the parasitic infectionlymphatic filariasissince 2000. Of the 73 countries where the disease is known to be endemic, 39 areon trackto eliminate it as a public health problem by 2020.

8) In 2013, the lowest number ofhuman African trypanosomiasiscases were recorded in 50 years. The disease, also known as sleeping sickness, is transmitted fromtsetse fliesand can have cause seizures, coma and premature death.

9) The number of new HIV infections among every 100 people aged between 15 and 49fell by 44%between 2001 and 2012.

10) By the end of 2013, approximately 12.9 million people were receivingantiretroviral therapyglobally. Of these, 11.7 million lived in low- and middle-income countries. If current trends continue, theWorld Health Organisation saysthe target of placing 15 million people o­n antiretroviral therapy by 2015 will be reached or exceeded.

11) The number of new HIV infections in southern and central Africafell by 48% and 54%respectively between 2001 and 2012. Despite this, an estimated 2.3 million people were newly infected.

12) Efforts to reduce the impact of HIV and Aids o­n children and their families continue. HIV is no longer considered a barrier to education for children who have lost parents to the virus. There isnear parityin school attendance rates of orphans and non-orphans aged 10 to 14 years.

13) By the end of 2012, more than 900,000 pregnant women living with HIV globally were receiving antiretroviral treatment. Coverage of antiretroviral programmes for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission increased from57% in 2011 to 62% in 2012.

14) In India, more than 15 million people with TB were diagnosed and treated between 1998 and 2012, saving anestimated 2.6 million lives.

15) Data indicates the stigma around HIV and Aids is slowly subsiding. In Congo-Brazzaville, 77% of pregnant women receiving prenatal care took voluntary HIV tests in 2011,compared with just 16%in 2003.

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