Joahnnesburg — Africa's future depends on the treatment of HIV-positive people, delegates at the African Development Forum in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, have heard.

Former Mozambican prime minister Pascoal Mocumbi previewed likely findings in the report by the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa, due for submission to the UN in June 2005, and warned of devastating consequences if HIV-positive people were not treated.

A local newspaper, The Daily Monitor, quoted Mocumbi as saying: "There is no escaping the fact that the loss of teachers, health workers and civil servants at the rates witnessed today threatens deterioration and eventual collapse. The cost of writing off [the infected] is too high to contemplate."

Mocumbi said that extending the lifespan of the HIV-positive population remained Africa's greatest challenge.