JOHANNESBURG, Dec 8 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright toured an AIDS research unit at a hospital in Johannesburg's Soweto township Friday, the first day of her visit to South Africa.

Women and their children infected by HIV or suffering from AIDS welcomed Albright -- who arrived in South Africa on Thursday -- to the unit at the vast township's Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital with a traditional song.

She later held a round table discussion with unit staff at the hospital.

"I came here not only to see or to have a chance to say hello to the women and their beautiful babies but to make clear that this (the research) is something that benefits both of our countries," she said at the talks.

Albright said that the US government was aware of the economic and social consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and recognised that it "is not only a terrible disease but also a very important security issue."

"This is not just a disease that is African, it's not the continent or nation's disease, but a global disease," Albright added.

The US agency for international development USAID had allocated 40 million dollars over the next five years to health issues in South Africa, including the fight against HIV/AIDS, she said.

South Africa has the world's greatest number of HIV-positive inhabitants -- 4.2 million, or one in 10 South Africans at the end of 1999, according to government figures.

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 70 percent of the world's 36 million sufferers from HIV and AIDS.

The issue is due to be on the agenda when Albright meets President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria later Friday, according to officials.

Albright flew to Johannesburg from Cape Town where she met women business leaders and retired Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle against apartheid.

Her spokesman Richard Boucher said Albright knew Tutu well and the visit was "in order to recognise the contribution he has made to progress in South Africa and especially reconciliation."

Albright is due to have breakfast with Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Saturday before flying on to the Indian Ocean island republic of Mauritius.

On Sunday she will visit Botswana and tour an AIDS centre in that country, which has the world's highest incidence of HIV, with more than one in three adults infected.

This is Albright's fourth -- and last -- trip to Africa as secretary of state and she is accompanied by Under Secretary of State for African Affairs Susan Rice.

After Africa, Albright will go on to Europe to take part in a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels on December 14-15.

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