Senior government officials from dozens of African nations are expected at a health summit beginning Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria.

"The ultimate goal is to free Africa from the shackles placed upon her by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and to alleviate the suffering, death and poverty which result from these epidemics, and so provide the platform for further socio-economic development," said a statement by the African Union (AU), which is organizing the conference.

"This summit is organized around the theme of 'universal access to care for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria across Africa by 2010,'" said Eyitayo Lambo, Nigeria's health minister.

The AU statement detailed how the epidemics affect the continent. Though it is home to only one-tenth of the world's population, Africa has 60 percent of the world's HIV/AIDS cases, and 2.8 million to 3.9 million Africans became newly infected with HIV in 2005. More than one-quarter of the world's TB cases occur in Africa, as do 90 percent of the world's 500 million malaria cases each year. Eight out of 10 of the world's orphans are Africans, said Christine Jeaulmes, UNICEF's spokesperson in Nigeria.

The summit will conclude with a statement that will be presented later this month to the World Health Assembly, the AU said.

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