Aids demo by Ethiopian orphans

Children orphaned by Aids were among hundreds of demonstrators who took to the streets of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, today to demand more government spending on the epidemic sweeping Africa.

The organisers called on the government to follow the example of South Africa and Kenya, which passed legislation to licence the importation or local manufacture of cheap generic medicines to treat HIV/Aids.

Correspondents say about three million people, from a population of 60 million, are thought to be infected with HIV in Ethiopia.

The United Nations estimates that about 900,000 Ethiopian children have been orphaned by the epidemic.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service