Researchers are looking into two main paths toward a cure for AIDS, based on stories from people who overcame the disease.

An AIDS researcher in Spain, Javier Martinez-Picado, says scientists envision a cure either by eradicating the virus from a person's body or by coaxing the body to control the virus on its own.

He made his remarks Tuesday on the third day of an International AIDS Conference in Washington.

Also at the conference, a U.S. health official said the United States is aiming to reduce the number of its HIV infections by 25 percent over the next three years.

Assistant Secretary of Health Howard Koh said the U.S. would achieve that reduction by treating people who have the virus, and by increasing the number of people who know they have HIV. An estimated one in five people are not aware they have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The United Nations says 34 million people live with HIV-AIDS, and 1.7 million died from the disease in 2011.