Leaders of the G8 nations - the world's most powerful countries - plan to reduce the number of young AIDS victims by a quarter over the next decade, according to media reports in Japan yesterday.
The G8 leaders, who will meet on Japan's southern island of Okinawa from Friday to Sunday, are due to issue a communique on Sunday.
Close to 35 million people are living with HIV-AIDS, more than 70 per cent of them in sub-Saharan Africa, where 11 million people have already died of the disease. One third of AIDS deaths are from tuberculosis, which kills 2 million people each year and infects 8 million more.
Malaria - which a mosquito net can help to stave off infection - kills 1 million Africans every year.
However, the G8's record of keeping its promises is poor. A year after the group announced a $100 billion package of debt relief for the world's poorest nations, hardly any of the money has been released. The G8 nations comprise Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US.