Discussions have place at Number 10 on the government's £1.5 billion Aids strategy.

The prime minister and international development secretary were leading the talks on Tuesday following the chancellor's three-year funding settlement last week.

Ahead of the summit they announced that £150 million of the money will go towards supporting orphans of HIV/Aids.

The move was set to be welcomed by former South African president Nelson Mandela who was addressing the meeting by video link.

Tony Blair said the strategy for tackling the growing disease around the globe was crucial to eliminating poverty.

"We have placed a special focus on the needs of women, young people and orphans in this strategy. These are the people most vulnerable to AIDS in the developing world," he said.

"Ignoring the issue of Aids is simply not an option. This is a tragedy that spans personal and global scales and it is appalling that life expectancy in some of the worst affected areas is falling back to pre-1950 levels."

"But this is not just about the millions of personal and family tragedies appalling though these are. Already fragile economies are seeing their working age populations destroyed," he added.

"Quite simply, we cannot hope to tackle poverty on a global scale without addressing Aids. Today's strategy will place Britain at the forefront of this response."

The Department for International Development also announced that the government will give the UN's Global Fund for Aids, TB and Malaria a total of £150 million over the next three years.

But secretary of state Hilary Benn stressed the cash would be used by individual countries.

"Every year more than three million people die from Aids. The international community has made some progress in tackling the pandemic, but not nearly enough," he said.

"The UK is committed to supporting national governments take forward a combination of approaches, balancing the urgent need to prevent new HIV infections with efforts to treat and care for people with HIV and Aids."

He added that "it is only through a comprehensive response to Aids that we will be able to meet our broader development goals, as well as to help people affected by the tragedy of Aids".