UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- A senior official with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has voiced hope that HIV would continue to be an important element in the post-2015 development agenda as it kills more than 1 million people every year.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) needs to be an important priority, Clifton Cortez, global cluster leader for governance and human rights within the HIV, health and development practice of the UNDP, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"We can't take our eye off the ball," he said.

Worldwide, 2.1 million people, including 240,000 children, became newly infected with HIV in 2013, while 1.5 million people died from AIDS-related causes, according to statistics released by UNAIDS.

The UNDP's duty is to decrease the occurrence rate, Cortez said.

In recent history, "(UNDP has) seen prevalence come down in a number of Sub-Saharan countries like South Africa," the official with over 20 years of professional experience working on HIV response and development said.

Right now, South Africa is lower than what it was before, but it's still unacceptably high, he said, adding that there are other nations in Sub-Saharan Africa where every third or fourth person is infected with HIV.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for almost 70 percent of the global total of new HIV infections, UNAIDS says. In 2013, there were an estimated 1.5 million new HIV infections in the region, UNAIDS data showed.

Thus, Cortez and other UNDP officials are advocating for the most marginalized populations across the world like the Sub- Saharan African region.

In the immediate future, the agency is tasked with rallying UN member states around HIV, he said.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are countries taking a proactive approach, he said.

One specific country is China.

China has pushed for HIV policies and resources, Cortez said.

More specifically, "they've had quite an impact on HIV among drug users in China," he said, adding that China's efforts and national procedures reflect this.

In the UNDP's official role, he said, "China has actually (made) great progress on MDG 6."

MDG 6 is focused on combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, the United Nations Millennium Development Goal website says.

The MDGs, a set of eight anti-poverty goals that range from halving poverty to maternal health, were established in 2000 after the Millennium Summit. The UNDP has become a leader in advocating for global progress on HIV since the two-day conference at UN headquarters.

Cortez said, the agency is campaigning for environmental and service improvements.

At present, the UNDP and governments have made progress on a number of fronts like HIV education, availability of resources and justice. But he said, "we aren't doing quite as well as we would have hoped. (Even though) it's one of the MDGs where we've had stronger progress."

"It's the non-biological factors; it's human rights; it's access to justice; it's reducing stigma discrimination; it's making sure that women are getting access to services," he said when talking about the UNDP's role in HIV outreach.

On a positive note, "we have started to reverse the epidemic itself, which is the overarching goal for MDG 6," he said.

As a result, development on the MDG is promising and that HIV will continue to be a priority in the post-2015 development agenda, which will be put in place at the end of the MDGs, he said.