Bill Gates called on all governments to join the battle against HIV/AIDS on the opening day of the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto on Sunday.

"I want to emphasize we are going to have to do a much better job of prevention to stop the spread of HIV," Gates told a news conference prior to the opening ceremonies, noting despite growing access to anti-retroviral drugs in countries hard-hit by HIV/AIDS, between 4 million and 5 million people worldwide will become infected in the next year.

Gates, whose foundation just donated 500 million U.S. dollars to the Global Fund on AIDS, said AIDS is going to require all actors, particularly governments, to dig deep and make this a high budgetary priority"

"The amount of money that's required for universal treatment or the things around prevention far exceed the amount that any individual government, certainly any foundation, can possibly provide."

The Microsoft founder called on the world to accelerate research of microbicides and oral drugs that would prevent acquisition of HIV, hoping for next breakthrough.

His wife, Melinda, stressed the need to use and make more widely available the tools known to stop the spread of the virus.

"Today fewer than one in five people who are at high risk for HIV have access to things like condoms, clean needles, education and testing," she said.

"That's something that simply needs to change."

Conference co-chair Dr. Mark Wainberg, a leading AIDS researcher at McGill University in Montreal, called HIV the world's top public enemy, stressing this conference plays a vital role in combating HIV spread.

One goal of the conference is to make sure drugs are available to those who need them around the world, regardless of ability to pay, he said.

But Frika Chia Iskandar, an Indonesian HIV-positive woman, told the news conference that access to treatment is not just about pills.

If people do not live close to medical care, access to treatment also means being able to afford to get to where the drugs are being dispensed, she said.

She also said "stigma and discrimination are still happening," noting a dentist refused to treat her last year.

The six-day conference has drawn about 24,000 delegates and 3,000 journalists worldwide to this Canadian city for the biggest gathering in the now-biennial meeting's 21-year history.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he would not attend the conference due to other commitments, a decision that has rankled organizers, researchers and AIDS activists.

Instead, Canada is represented by Health Minister Tony Clement and Minister of International Cooperation Josee Verner.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the crown prince and princess of Norway, UN AIDS for Africa envoy Stephen Lewis were among the attendants.

Conference workshops and plenary sessions officially begin on Monday which are expected to deal with a wide range of topics.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first reported cases of HIV. Since then about 65 million people have been infected with HIV, and AIDS has killed over 25 million people. An estimated 40 million people are living with HIV.

Source: Xinhua