The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned the international community that it is not doing enough to fight Aids. Mr Annan was speaking at the opening ceremony of the fifteenth International Aids Conference, in Bangkok. This report from Chris Hogg:

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Increasingly women are bearing the brunt of the epidemic, a pattern Mr Annan says is terrifying. At least a third of countries don't have policies to ensure women have access to prevention and care --"how can that be allowed?" he says. The international community must work harder on a number of fronts: women and girls need more help to protect themselves against the virus; health systems need to be improved and scaled up to support both treatment and prevention. Leadership, he says, is the key at every level. The responsibility for tackling this crisis goes all the way to the top, in each country of the world.

Chris Hogg, BBC News, Bangkok

Listen to the words

stark
harsh, unpleasant

pandemic
a disease that is widespread over a very large area and affects large numbers of the population

time-limited targets
objectives that must be reached by a particular date, or tasks that must be completed in a particular amount of time.

bearing the brunt of
suffering most of the effects of

have access to
(in this context) be able to receive

fronts
areas; if something happens on a particular front, it happens with regard to a particular situation or activity

scaled up
increased

the key
the answer

at every level
at every stage of a political or business organisation

goes all the way to the top
extends from the lowest level of an organisation to the leaders of it

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