By Richard Black BBC Science Correspondent

Activists described the closing day meeting of supporters of the Fund on Wednesday as a fiasco.

Protesters say governments are not acting quickly enough

Scientists, too, were disappointed by the lack of significant new research or funding.

This conference was supposed to be about science but the final day was dominated by a meeting of supporters of the Global Fund.

Not only activists but many scientists as well were scathing in their criticism of Western governments for failing to provide significant new money.

The meeting agreed to support the Global Fund's next three rounds of spending, probably totalling several billion dollars. But it is still not clear where the money is coming from.

Addressing the conference closing, Vuyiseka Dubula from the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa caught up the mood of many.

"Today's donors conference was a scandal. There were no meaningful pledges," she told the conference to great applause.

"The wealthiest countries in the world are refusing the amounts of money needed in 2003 and 2004 to begin to save our lives."

Chirac heckled

The final words here went to French President Jacques Chirac, who closed the scientific conference with an appeal to governments and business to contribute more.

GLOBAL FUND Set up in 2002 Faces an estimated shortfall of at least $400m Currently has about $300m in cash

"This is not an act of charity. It is an act of shared responsibility in standing up to a global scourge," he said.

Mr Chirac also paid tribute to former South African President Nelson Mandela and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"They are driving back fear, shame and taboo," he said.

He also hinted he may try to initiate some form of international tax to provide funds for Aids.

But the start of his speech was disrupted by activists chanting the single word, "Shame".

Drug-resistant strains

European Commission President Romano Prodi said he would make sure that Europe provided $1bn. If it does, US President George Bush has promised $1bn too.

"I am the guarantor for the $1bn," he told the conference.

China has made its first donation, promising $10m over five years

But activists have pointed out that the funds have not been pledged, nor is there a timetable indicating when they may arrive.

On the scientific side, there were few highlights. One study which did make an impact looked at levels of resistance to HIV drugs in Europe.

In a study across 17 European countries involving more than 1,600 people newly-diagnosed HIV-positive, researchers found that about 10% were infected with drug-resistant strains.

Dr David Van de Vijver from Utrecht University in the Netherlands said figure will almost certainly rise, but the real problem could be in developing countries.

"It is very important that in Africa there should be regular supplies of drugs," he told the BBC.

"If there are irregular supplies that's asking for problems regarding resistance." Dr Van de Vijver said there was an urgent need for studies on drug resistance in Africa and Asia, where very little research has been done.

Scientists' despair

The other study to catch the eye was conducted in Rwanda and Uganda by scientists from Africa and Europe.

Many clinics now prescribe anti-retroviral drugs to HIV-positive pregnant women in order to prevent mother-to-baby transmission while the baby is in the mother's womb.

But even where that works, a number of babies - perhaps as high as 20% - go on to contract HIV from the mother by drinking her breast milk.

The SIMBA study gave anti-retroviral drugs in a syrup to newborn babies while they were breast-feeding.

Dr Pius Okong from St Francis Hospital in Kampala said the drugs worked.

"They were definitely effective in reducing the infection, because less than 2% of the babies acquired the infection," he told the BBC.

"If there's any virus in the breast-milk, the medications should get rid of the virus."

But this conference was remarkable not so much for new science as for a new mood of activism among scientists. Some said the science did not matter - there was no point in creating new treatments, they said, unless they were going to be used where they were needed most.

Professor Christine Katlama from the Pitie-Saltpetriere Hospital in Paris summed up the prevailing mood.

"When we fight for Aids we fight for the world and all infected HIV patients," she told the BBC.

"You cannot ask the scientists to find new treatments and when they've found treatments, they're not available for 90% of patients.

"No, they cannot accept that millions will die and the silent people who die every day."