Action call: Aids activist

The prime minister and President Bush will today meet with representatives from a number of aid organisations, to discuss the issue of HIV and Aids in Africa.

The round table discussion will highlight key issues in preventing the spread of HIV and Aids, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ahead of the meeting, the White House said the two leaders would give the issue a high priority.

"They're particularly interested - both of them, of course - in Africa, AIDS, poverty alleviation, and both had strong initiatives in that area, and so I'm sure that that will be a major area of discussion," said a spokesman.

In a visit likely to be short on agreements, it is likely to be the closest the two leaders will get to producing any concrete results from the three-day trip.

Tony Blair most famously described the continent as "a scar on the world's conscience".

"If the world continues to ignore the sufferings of African nations, like in the war- ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo, it would breed anger and frustration which would threaten global stability," he told the Labour Party conference in October 2001.

"If Rwanda happens again we would not walk away as the outside world has done many times before."

He called for an international deal, offering extra aid and assistance to Africa in exchange for greater democracy.

President Bush has also made a pledge to spend $15 billion over five years to fight the Aids epidemic.

Earlier this month, US Congress agreed to provide $2.4 billion next year.

However, the administration has come under fire for investing a third of the funds into abstinence-only campaigns, but the decision has been defended by US secretary of state Colin Powell.

"Abstinence works, we know it works," he said.

"If you're not actually transmitting the disease through sexual contact, the disease will not be transmitted.

"Abstinence is a good thing to teach young people before they're ready for the responsibility of sexual activity."