UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro Tuesday urged experts on HIV/AIDS to conduct studies leading to practical conclusions that directly contribute to the fight against the lethal disease in Africa.

She made the call at a UN-sponsored academic seminar held in New York, noting that the pandemic is eroding the gains in economic development across the continent, where some 1.6 million people died from AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa in 2007 alone and over22 million are living with HIV.

"The epidemic strikes at the core of human development, killing young adults at the prime of what should be their most productive year," Migiro told participants of the symposium on the social and economic dimensions of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

"The epidemic systematically deprives sectors, such as health, education and agriculture, of skilled workers, thus reducing overall national productivity," she told the symposium, organized by the UN University and the U.S. Cornell University.

She encouraged experts to draw conclusions from their research that would be useful for organizations such as the United Nations and non-governmental organizations working in Africa to strengthen their anti-AIDS efforts.

"Research efforts should recommend policies for inclusion in national strategies for dealing with the disease," she said.

The meeting on HIV/AIDS is the third in the UN-Cornell "Africa Series," which is designed to help inform the high-level meeting of Africa's development needs during the UN General Assembly slated for later this month.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2008)