Nairobi, Kenya ? Tens of thousands of advocates and health workers rallied worldwide Monday to mark World AIDS Day, and officials hailed new initiatives, new funding and a new pill to fight the disease that has infected 40 million people and kills more than 8,000 every day.

The World Health Organization and UNAIDS promised cheaper drugs, simpler treatment regimens and more money as part of a campaign launched in Nairobi to provide 3 million HIV-infected people with the latest drugs available by the end of 2005.

WHO also certified an innovative generic drug for treating HIV that combines three essential anti-retroviral drugs into one pill to be taken twice a day. WHO and UNAIDS promised to promote international agreements to streamline treatment programs.

“In two short decades, HIV/AIDS has become the premier disease of mass destruction,” said Dr. Jack Chow, the assistant director-general of WHO. “The death odometer is spinning at 8,000 lives a day and accelerating.”

Medecins Sans Frontieres, an aid agency that has led efforts to simplify HIV treatment, welcomed the announcement but said funding would be critical. “The treatment has to be free; if the treatment is not free, they will not meet their goals,” said Dr. Morten Rostrup, president of group’s international council.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson appealed in Zambia for redoubling efforts against HIV. Africa, the hardest-hit continent, cannot fight the pandemic alone, he said. “This war has caused more casualties than any other war,” Thompson said. “We need America, the European Union and everybody. Nobody is going to be spared unless we all come together in the fight against this disease.”

UNAIDS estimates 3 million people have died this year. WHO says more than 5 million HIV patients need anti-retroviral drugs, but fewer than 400,000 have access to them.

The drugs allow HIV patients to live a relatively normal life by preventing development of full-blown AIDS.

A thousand volunteers form the red ribbon symbol of the campaign against AIDS on the grounds of the presidential palace in Santiago, Chile.