Blair pledges to give Africa priority

Strong local leadership, financial support and health education are the keys to fighting Aids, Tony Blair will say today.

The spread of the disease in Africa is a "terrible, terrible situation" but preventable, he says in a BBC Radio Five Live interview to mark World Aids Day.

The Prime Minister claims Britain is the world leader in tackling Africa's problems by helping resolve debt and trebling aid. Africa, along with climate change, would be priorities during his presidency of the G8 summit, he says.

United Nations envoy on Aids

in Africa, Stephen Lewis, said today two million people died in Africa this year from Aidsrelated illness. He said it was "mass murder by complacency".

Meanwhile, half of Britons admit to having unprotected sex without knowing their partner's sexual history, a Durex sex survey of 10,000 people in the UK found. There are 53,000 adults now living with HIV in the UK. Global figures have reached a record 40 million.