Five million people are said to have HIV virus in South Africa

A South African newspaper, the Cape Times, says the report was completed five months ago, but has yet to be officially released and had now been leaked to politicians, trade unions and others by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), an Aids activist group.

The group has become increasingly confrontational in its campaigning and accuses the South African Government of not acting quickly enough to provide anti-Aids drugs.

"Delays in starting this programme will cause preventable deaths, orphans and suffering," the TAC said.

Urgency

The government said that the leaked report was a first draft, and that it was treating Aids with the utmost urgency.

Facts and figures on the impact of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa At-a-glance

The study was compiled by officials from the health and finance departments to determine the cost and impact of a national Aids drug programme.

The TAC quotes the report as saying that 1.8 million additional children will lose a parent by 2010 if drugs are not provided.

The use of anti-retroviral drugs has drastically reduced the number of deaths from Aids - but the South African Government has pulled back from introducing them.

It says they are expensive and has preferred to emphasise the importance of nutrition and poverty reduction. It also says it prefers prevention over treatment.

South Africa has more HIV-positive people than any other country in the world. Activists say some 600 South Africans die from Aids-related diseases each day.