DENVER, Colorado, Nov 6 (AFP) - Health officials from around the world gathered here for a weekend conference on the deadly AIDS disease, whose victims increasingly are minority group members, experts said.

"The complexion of the AIDS epidemic has changed. AIDS is increasingly becoming an epidemic of color," said David Satcher, US Surgeon General, who is among several thousand people to attend the annual conference.

Organizers said this year's gathering will emphasize developing awareness about the disease within communities of color throughout the United States.

"As we approach the 21st century, the AIDS epidemic is not slowing, instead it continues to take its toll in more diverse communities," said Paul Kawata, executive director for the National Minority AIDS Council.

"This disease continues to be the number one cause of death for African-Americans aged 25-44 and the second leading cause of death for Latino men in the same age group," Kawata said.

Satcher stressed the importance of reaching young people.

"It's a very difficult group, whether you're dealing with smoking, drugs, violence or sex, because that group tends to take risks. They think of themselves as not being vulnerable," he said.

In reaching out to youths, he said, "we have learned that the programs that work are the ones that educate, motivate and mobilize."

The conference, scheduled to run through Monday, includes participants from across the United States, and will be attended by various international delegations as well, including a sizeable group from Africa, the continent hardest hit by the scourge of AIDS.

In Malawi, for example, an estimated one million people, out of a population of 11 million, have contracted, HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, officials estimate. Government figures in South Africa estimate that some 3.6 million people -- one in 11 South Africans -- are HIV positive.

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