The world needs to spend another 11.3 billion dollars to reach the goal of providing universal AIDS treatment in over 100 countries by 2010, the UNAIDS chief said Tuesday. But the world leaders must not let the global financial crisis distract them from fighting HIV/AIDS, the United Nations' top AIDS official said on Tuesday.

"The world has a political responsibility to stabilize the market failure," said Michel Sidibe, newly appointed executive director of UNAIDS, the U.N. agency charged with tackling the pandemic.

Sub-Saharan Africa is at the epicenter of the global AIDS pandemic and economic powerhouse South Africa has among the world's worst infection rates. An estimated 1,000 people die here every day from AIDS-related illnesses.

Barbara Hogan said the government wanted to provide AIDS drugs to 1.5 million people over the next three years, up from 700,000 at present, conceding that thousands were without the treatment they desperately need. When Hogan was appointed in September, she immediately broke with the discredited policies of her predecessor who promoted garlic and lemons rather than conventional AIDS drugs.

Michel Sidibe, the UN agency's new director, said that a total of 25 billion dollars was needed to reach the goal of providing medical care as well as prevention services. Around 13.7 billion dollars was invested in 2008 to battle the disease which has killed over two million people around the world.

Historically, the prevention and control of diseases linked to human behaviors, such as sexually transmitted disease has been largely unsuccessful. This applies not only sexual behaviors but human behaviors such as cigarette smoking or adopting a healthy diet and exercise. Such behavioral changes don’t come overnight and might take decades and even generations to adopt.