GENEVA, Dec 19 (AFP) - Thailand and Uganda's efforts to combat AIDS, Peru's fight against tuberculosis and Vietnam's strategy against malaria have shown how the widespread use of the right tools to deal with infectious diseases can be effective, a new report said Tuesday.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with other UN agencies put forward the message in a report outlining what it called "success stories" in the developing world.

The evidence of success is not always obvious in countries which spend less than 20 dollars per year per capita on health, but such evidence exists, WHO said.

In Malawi, where only three percent of the population has access to adequate sanitation, the country is set to eliminate measles, it highlighted.

The report notes that targets set by world leaders for rolling back disease and preventing deaths are feasible but require both funding and appropriate systems to enable widespread implementation.

WHO director-general Gro Harlem Brundtland said the evidence went against those who doubted that the poorest of the world's population could be protected from deadly diseases.

"With a concerted effort from the international community we can turn the promise of these success stories into a reality in the coming years," she said in a press release to accompany the report.

She stressed in the report that it is known what works and she highlighted a number of examples such as insecticide-treated bednets against malaria.

But the key to success is political will at the highest level, and new ways of working in partnership with the private sector, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOS) and UN agencies, as well as some innovation, the WHO said.

The Thai government launched an anti-AIDS programme in 1991 bringing together ministers, NGOs, businesses, religious groups and sick people behind a campaign to enforce the use of condoms in brothels.

In Uganda's fight against AIDS, the infection rate among pregnant women has dropped by half in some regions since 1993.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched a 1.9 billion dollar appeal at the end of November on behalf of the UN agencies to help more than 35 million people in 2001.

Brundtland said 30 percent of the amount had so far been obtained.

001219
AF0012B8

Copyright © AFP or Agence France-Presse, 2000 - All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission..  http://www.afp.com/