WHO meets its ambitious '3 by 5' target, although a tad late, writes Maria Cheng from London In 2003, the World Health Organisation began its ambitious '3 by 5' initiative to treat AIDS, promising to put three million infected people worldwide on anti-retroviral drugs within two years. According to a report issued on Monday, the WHO finally succeeded last year. Despite missing their deadline, officials were upbeat. "If every UN health target was met just two years late, the world would be a much better place," said Dr Kevin De Cock, director of WHO's AIDS department.