UNITED NATIONS, Nov 26 (AFP) - Adults should spend more time listening to young people in order to break the "conspiracy of silence" over AIDS, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Friday in a message to mark World AIDS Day.

Noting that 16 million people have already died of AIDS and 34 million are infected with HIV, Annan said "working with people under 25 is perhaps the best hope we have today of bringing the epidemic under control."

The United Nations will host conferences and other events on Wednesday, World AIDS Day, as part of its campaign against the disease which claimed a record 2.6 million lives this year.

Echoing the theme of the Day, "The Children Left Behind", Annan said that "a staggering 11.2 million children -- nine in ten of them from Africa -- have been orphaned by AIDS since the epidemic began" in the 1970s.

Half of those infected this year are under the age of 25, he said.

"They will probably die before they turn 35," he added. "They will leave behind children who not only face a future as orphans, but often the added burdens of poverty and stigma."

Stressing that young people are at grave risk, Annan said "adults spend too much time telling young people what to do without listening to what they need: affection, close bonds with adults, and education about healthy sexuality."

Those who are ignorant about the disease can do nothing to protect themselves, he said.

"By withholding vital information," he said, "we help fuel an epidemic driven by unsafe sex and drug practices."

Annan also urged people to fight "the culture of shame", saying: "Hiding AIDS behind a curtain of stigma helps to spread it. Speaking out about AIDS helps slow it down."

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