New York  - Michel Sidibe of Mali was appointed Monday director of the United Nations programme to fight AIDS, a disease that has infected an estimated 33 million people worldwide.

The appointment came as the world marked World AIDS Day.

Sidibe is currently deputy executive director of the UN programme and will replace his departing boss, Peter Piot, whose name has been linked with the global fight against HIV/AIDS for years. Sidibe has 27 years in public healthcare services and has been Piot's deputy since 2001.

"The leadership of UNAIDS is in very capable hands," Piot said about the appointment. "UNAIDS has a vital role to play in sustaining the progress made in the global response to AIDS."

The UN said Sidibe has been the driving force behind the promotion of Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. He also worked in other programmes, including the Global Task Team coordinating efforts to fight the disease.

Sidibe's appointment came on the World AIDS Day, which falls on December 1 each year to raise awareness on the unrelenting spread of the disease.

The UN says there are currently an estimated 33 million people living with AIDS and there were 2.7 million new infections in 2007. An estimated 2 million people died of AIDS-related causes last year.

The UN Children's Fund released a report Monday calling for the early testing of newborn of the AIDS virus HIV to improve their rate of survival. UNICEF said less than 10 per cent of infants born to HIV-positive mothers were tested before they reached two months.

"Without appropriate treatment, half of children with HIV will die from an HIV-related cause by their second birthday," said UNICEF director Ann Veneman. "Survival rates are up to 75 per cent higher for HIV-positive newborns who are diagnosed and begin treatment within their first 12 months."

UNICEF said it has scaled up early HIV testing of infants in some African countries hardest hit by AIDS like Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia. In some countries like Botswana and South Africa, six-weeks-old infants have been HIV tested.

UNAIDS last week urged governments and healthcare services to study new patterns of HIV infections in order to make preventive programmes more effective.

It said that as the pattern of an epidemic can change over time, analyses of its spread should be undertaken at regular intervals.

"Not only will this approach help prevent the next 1,000 infections in each community, but it will also make money for AIDS ... more effective and help put forward a long-term and sustainable AIDS response," said Piot.

The realignment of HIV prevention programmes would be based on understanding why new infections occurred, he said.

UNAIDS said the new approach, which involves a combination of preventive measures, is a mix of behavioural, bio-medical and structural HIV prevention actions to suit each country's actions to fight the epidemic. (dpa)