Expanding access to anti- retroviral treatment has contributed to the increase in life expectancy from 56 years to 60 years between 2008 and 2011, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Saturday.

Motlanthe made the remarks in Potchefstrrom in the North West Province to mark this year's World AIDS Day with the theme "Getting to Zero".

South Africa has begun its journey to a world free of AIDS, he said.

"Our common vision of an AIDS free world is now possible and attainable, let's continue to strive towards its realization," Motlanthe said.

He listed the following achievements the country has made in combatting AIDS in the past recent years:

-- A reduction in the rate of infection of mother to child transmission from eight percent in 2008 to 3.5 percent in 2010 and 2.7 percent in 2011;

-- More people were enrolling onto the anti-retroviral program, bringing the total number of people on treatment to 1.9 million to date;

-- A total of 800, 000 diagnostic tests for TB using the new Gene Expert technology;

-- The carrying out of the home-grown circumcision program which has reached 619, 000 medical male circumcision; and

-- The adoption of safer sex practices and reduction in the number of sexual partners which has led to a decline in the rate of new infections, particularly in young people.

Motlanthe said the anti-AIDS fight will get a boost with the introduction of a new combination of anti-HIV drugs with the world's lowest price.

The three-in-one combination will enable HIV patients to take only one table per day instead of three as from April next year.

The fixed dose combination brings with it an additional extraordinary benefit, the combination is more effective than dual therapy and has fewer side effects for the pregnant mother, in addition to its' convenient dosage regimen, according to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

In its latest report, the United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) said South Africa has increased its scale of HIV treatment by 75 percent, allowing almost two million people to have access to the life-saving treatment.

The move has led to a decrease of more than 41 percent in new HIV infections in the past two years, said the report.

The report says the increase in South Africa's sustained investments in HIV treatment, such as anti-retroviral therapy (ART) , led to many lives being saved in the past six years.

South Africa has made the highest domestic investment in AIDS among all low- and middle-income countries. It alone invested 1.9 billion U. S. dollars in 2011 from public sources, resulting in a five-fold increase between 2006 and 2011,according to the report.

HIV/AIDS is South Africa's prominent health concern. The country is believed to have more people with HIV/AIDS than any other country in the world.