The elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV is the focus of a UNAIDS partnership deal signed with several NGOs in New York.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe said the deal should correct the glaring inequality confronting children in the face of the scourge.

As world leaders gather for the UN’s General Assembly, events like this enjoy increased prominence.

The Millennium Goals - with only six years to run - include rolling back the AIDS pandemic.

Sidebe who heads the UN division fighting AIDS said Africa had 85 percent of the world’s two million AIDS related deaths last year.

Most of the 300 000 babies born with the virus are African and a third die before their first birthday.