UNITED NATIONS, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The global fight against theHIV/AIDS epidemic needs to be substantially enhanced and better coordinated if the world is to meet key benchmarks by 2010 as laidout by a UN declaration five years ago, the United Nations said ina report released Tuesday.

    "Despite some notable achievements, the response to the AIDS epidemic to date has been nowhere near adequate," said the report prepared by UNAIDS, the UN agency that coordinates the global campaign against the pandemic.

    The study came out on the eve of a high-level meeting of the UNGeneral Assembly on the deadly disease. A dozen heads of state, more than 100 cabinet ministers and about 1,000 representatives ofcivil society and the private sector are expected to gather in NewYork from Wednesday to Friday to discuss its findings.

    "A quarter century into the epidemic, the global AIDS response stands at a crossroads. The response must become substantially stronger, more strategic and better coordinated if the world is toachieve the 2010 Declaration of Commitment targets," the report said.

    It warned that the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS will fail to achieve millennium development goals to reduce poverty, hunger and childhood mortality, and countries whose development isalready flagging because of HIV/AIDS will continue to weaken, potentially threatening social stability and national security, "if the response does not increase significantly."

    The report, based on data submitted by 126 countries, showed that an estimated 33.4 million to 46 million people were living with AIDS at the end of 2005. An estimated 3.2 million to 6.2 million became newly infected and between 2.2 million and 3.3 million died of AIDS. Enditem