JOHANNESBURG, Dec 1, 2006 (AFP) - There were encouraging signs in the African continent's fight against AIDS, with an apparent decline in adult prevalence in a number of countries, the World Health Organisation said Friday.

These included Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Rwanda, the body's regional director for Africa, Luis Gomes Sambo, said in a statement.

"Africa still remains the region of the world most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic," said the message prepared to mark World AIDS Day.

"There are signs of hope: There are indications of a decline in adult HIV prevalence in a number of countries."

Other positives included a rise in the number of infected Africans accessing life-prolonging medicines from less than 100,000 in 2003 to more than a million by June this year.

"The number of people accessing HIV preventive services has also gone up as countries continue to scale up testing and counseling services as well as programmes to prevent mother-to-child transmission," said Sambo's statement.

But there were still "huge gaps and challenges", including an estimated 2.8 million Africans becoming infected in 2006 and only about 10 percent of infected people being aware of their status.

"Less than one quarter (23 percent) of the estimated 4.6 million people in need of anti-retroviral therapy in (sub-Saharan Africa) are receiving it," Sambo said.

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