Thousands of people are in Washington for the fourth day , attending a major international AIDS Conference focusing on the magnitude of the disease and possible cures.

Diplomats, politicians, scientists and celebrities are attending the six-day event.

On Tuesday, an AIDS researcher from Spain, Javier Martinez-Picado, told the conference scientists are looking into two main paths for curing AIDS — eradicating the virus from a person's body or coaxing the body to control the virus.

Also, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health Howard Koh said the United States hopes to reduce the number of its HIV infections by 25 percent over the next three years.

Day three of the conference also saw U.S. scientists announce a new research initiative designed to help women protect themselves against 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.