AIDS Day highlights spread of epidemic

MILLIONS of people around the globe marked World AIDS Day yesterday with marches, prayers and hope amid grim statistics that show the epidemic outpacing efforts to control it.

In China, officials instructed one million students to launch a new national AIDS awareness campaign, while in Britain, health experts warned of a startling spike in new infections, and in South Africa the country worst hit by the disease they held a mass funeral for babies.

"We pay tribute to all the children who have passed away in our care," said Jackie Schoeman of the Cotlands Baby Sanctuary, which held a ceremony on Sunday in Johannesburg to inter the cremated ashes of some of the littlest victims.