The Anglican has admitted that its long silence on Aids has done a lot of damage.

The Anglican Church archbishops from the all over the world have called for open debate about the scourge.

Speaking at Canterbury in the UK, they joined calls by world leaders and international organisations for cheaper drugs and social acceptance of people living with HIV.

The church affirmed its commitment to join the fight against Aids in a joint statement released by the Archbishop of Canterbury last Saturday.

The archbishops said: "We raise our voices to call for an end to silence about this disease - the silence of stigma, the silence of denial, the silence of fear. We confess that the Church herself has been complacent in this silence. When we have raised our voices in the past, it has been too often a voice of condemnation.

"We now wish to make it clear that HIV/Aids is not a punishment from God. Our Christian faith compels us to including those who are living with HIV/Aids, are made in the image of God and are children of God."

The leaders appealed to pharmaceutical companies and agencies to put life before profits by providing cheaper drugs. The meeting, held once every two years, is important in the church's calendar.

"We would remind both governments and pharmaceutical companies that it is a basic human right that all who require treatment have access to that treatment.

We affirm, therefore, that safe and effective pharmaceutical treatment should be more widely available to alleviate suffering and extend life, and join our voice to the Secretary General of the United Nations in his plea that the profit motive not override the urgent humanitarian need for readily available and cheaper drugs.