MPs on Thursday called on the government to tackle poverty in the third world in a bid to overcome the Aids epidemic.

The Commons international development committee suggests that the campaign to secure cheaper anti-viral drug therapies is a distraction from the underlying problem of poverty in many of the countries ravaged by the spread of HIV.

In a report the cross-party committee warns that the Aids epidemic which is sweeping through Africa could push countries close to collapse.

"We are concerned that the current and legitimate debate over drug pricing might distract from consideration of the real crisis - the crisis of poverty. It is the denial of resources, services and rights which has done so much to exacerbate the spread of HIV/Aids," the report states.

Whilst it welcomes Clare Short's efforts to make drugs cheaper, boosting the economic standards of the third world would reduce the spread of HIV and Aids, the committee argues.

"With inroads into poverty we would expect to see progress in the reduction of infection rates and standards of care," they suggest.

The committee is critical of governments in Africa, some of which it suggests have shown "culpable and serious" negligence in responding to the epidemic. Initially many countries refused to face up to the risks of HIV and Aids, with some, including South African president Thabo Mbeki, saying the link between the two was unproven.

MPs also warn that the economic improvements seen in the developing world could be reversed unless the Aids epidemic is brought under control.

The committee's chairman, Bowen Wells, said: "More people have been lifted out of poverty in the past 50 years than in the previous 500. As a result of the HIV/Aids epidemic, these gains are now, in certain countries, in real danger of being lost or even reversed."