The head of the World Health Organisation, Gro Harlem Brundtland, has told a WHO conference in Winterthur that billions are needed to contain the spread of infectious diseases linked to poverty.

At the centre of the WHO's concerns are HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which account for more than five million deaths annually.

The three day meeting, which ends on Friday, is aimed at fostering a worldwide movement to increase awareness of poverty and disease.

Brundtland hopes to reduce mortality rates in third-world countries by half within the next five years. She estimated it would cost close to $6 billion to achieve this.

She said $2.5 billion is needed for AIDS prevention campaigns, and a further $3 billion to fight malaria and tuberculosis.

The conference brings together 200 experts from 70 different countries. It is a follow up of the G8 meeting, which took place in Okinawa last July.

swissinfo with agencies

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