New Aids warning at African conference

A senior United Nations official has told a conference in Cairo on the plight of children in Africa that the Aids crisis on the continent was being made worse by systematic denial and the hyprocisy of men in power.

The official, Urban Jonsson the Unicef regional director for eastern and southern Africa said that Aids was the largest social catastrophe of modern times.

It was causing a crisis in the education system, with teachers dying of it.

Obstacles in the fight against it included a fear of stigmatization, a lack of sex education - a taboo in many countries - and the hypocrisy of men in power.

He said that youths in Africa were the most infected and affected - they had shown that they were best at breaking the silence, and should be recognised as a major resource in the fight against the disease.

The aim of the four-day conference, which is being attended by 53 African countries, is to improve the lives of Africa's children over the next 10 years.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service