In addition to the loss of life, the report warned that the growing number of orphans is putting a severe strain on the traditional African extended family, which, it said, was breaking down under the burden. ``The figures are staggering. By the end of this year the world will have seen 11.2 million children orphaned by AIDS, 95 percent of them in sub-Saharan Africa,'' executive director of UNAIDS, Peter Piot said in a statement.

By the end of 2000, it is estimated that the number of AIDS orphans will rise to more than 13 million, Piot said. To address the situation, UNAIDS andUNICEF have teamed up with a US group, the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, to call on governments to act to fight the discrimination and ostracism often accompanied with AIDS.

The three groups also put forward a series of recommendations for governments and communities including voluntary testing, social help and increased community protection for women's and children's rights. Eastern and southern Africa are the focus of the report. Only 4.8 percent of the world's population lives there, but they account for more than 50 per cent of the world's HIV-positive people.

UNICEF executive director, Carol Bellamy, said traditional ``support systems'' in Africa were under severe strain. ``The grandparents, who in so many cases are taking care of their orphaned grandchildren, have limited resources. They cannot keep this up forever,'' Bellamy said in a statement.

-- Agence France Presse