A major conference on the impact of AIDS in Africa and the means to tackle the disease has opened in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
The 13th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa brings together some 8,000 doctors, researchers, policy makers and grassroots campaigners.
At the opening ceremony, Kenyan Archbishop Manasia Kuria gave a prayer for solidarity and preached the benefits of abstinence and fidelity.
In addition to plenary sessions, the conference will feature hundreds of meetings and presentations on a wide range of issues such as the role of various churches and updates on vaccine development.
Around 30 million Africans - one adult in 11 - have AIDS or HIV, accounting for around three-quarters of the world's total. Some 15 million Africans have already died from the devastating disease.
Estimates for the proportion of Africans infected with HIV who have access to the antiretroviral drugs used to treat the disease range from around1-4%.
