BEIJING, Dec. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Countries around the globe and international organizations on Thursday marked the 18th World AIDS Day by pledging renewed efforts in the global fight against the HIV and AIDS, which is becoming increasingly a worldwide threat and claims many lives every year.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the international community on Thursday to intensify its efforts to meet the millennium development goal (MDGs) of reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

Annan stressed the urgency to step up efforts to fight the global spread of the AIDS epidemic. "For halting the spread of AIDS is not only a millennium development goal in itself, it is a prerequisite for reaching most of the others," he said.

The World Bank on Wednesday announced a strategic plan to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with continued focus on efforts in poor and middle-income countries, the hardest hit by the epidemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that two HIV/AIDS medicines will be added to its list of prequalified products.

"The expansion in choice of the therapy these medicines will afford is particularly significant today, on World AIDS Day," the UN agency said.

According to the latest UN estimates, 38 million adults and 2.3million children around the world are living with HIV, and in 2005some 4.9 million people have became newly infected with the lethal virus, 95 percent of them from the developing countries.

In Los Angeles, candlelight vigils and health awareness events marking the AIDS Day were planned for Thursday to remember those who had died of the disease and support continued efforts to find a cure.

In Europe, the Bulgarian government is to increase its efforts in curbing the growth of AIDS in the country, said Health Minister Atanas Dodov on Monday. A total of 586 cases of the deadly disease have been diagnosed in Bulgaria.

On Thursday, the British government announced a donation of 27.5 million pounds (47.6 million US dollars) to fund the prevention and cure programs of the disease worldwide.

The donation includes 20 million pounds (34.6 million dollars) to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and 7.5 million pounds (13 million dollars) to the research of microbicides that could protect against HIV.

In Asia, China launched an AIDS awareness campaign targeting rural laborers working in cities.

"Although China has made progress in the prevention and treatment of AIDS, the epidemic still does not allow for the slightest bit of optimism," Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi said at the kickoff of the campaign called "Controlling AIDS: Honoring our Commitment."

Wu said prevention and treatment of AIDS remains a very arduous task, which makes it necessary to mobilize resources of a wider range for the efforts, adding that a "widespread and far reaching publicity campaign" should have a significant impact.

In Vietnam, the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam's Central Committee has urged local relevant agencies to take bold measures to combat HIV/AIDS, a local newspaper reported Thursday.

The agencies were asked to step up HIV/AIDS prevention and beef up their fight against drug addiction and prostitution.

In Indonesia, international activist Joyce Djaelani Gordon had called on the southeast country to shift focus to youth in the fight against HIV/AIDS, as young people represent the largest percentage on the HIV infection charts.

The South Pacific's Papua New Guinea (PNG) is at risk of an HIV-AIDS epidemic, with the experts forecasting that its labor force might be cut by around 38 percent by 2020, according to a report from Port Moresby, capital of the country.

Cambodia, one of three countries in the world that have reduced the spread of HIV/AIDS effectively, on Thursday reaffirmed its resolve to carry on the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

In Africa, the Congress on Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and HIV/AIDS gathering the Portuguese Speaking Community (CPLP) member countries in Luanda, were discussing the "Three x Five Initiative" global AIDS strategy.

In Uganda, a statement was issued on Thursday by Director General of the Uganda AIDS Commission Kihumuro Appuli, saying the country's HIV/ AIDS prevalence is 7 percent at present. It is this declining trend that has made Uganda a role model in the fight against the disease.

In Tanzania, Emmanuel Humbi, director-general of the Tanzania National Health Insurance Fund warned that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is siphoning away the available healthcare resources in Tanzania due to increased out-patient visits and prolonged in-patient admissions of HIV/AIDS.

In Kenya, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate has dropped drastically from 10.2 percent in 2000 to 6.1 percent this year.

Director of National AIDS Control Council of Kenya (NACC) Patrick Orege on Wednesday said the east African nation is following the so-called " ABC" approach to behavioral change: Abstain; Be faithful to one partner; use a Condom.

Lawless Somalia still has an opportunity to be one of the few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to avert an HIV/AIDS epidemic of major proportions, the United Nations said Thursday.

In Nigeria, President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday admitted the treatment of children infected with HIV/ AIDS has been "rather sluggish" but pledged to do everything possible to help as many of the country's patients as possible.

In Zambia, several United Nations agencies on Thursday joined hands with the government to launch campaigns countrywide to mark this year's World AIDS Day.