|PIC1|More than 250 young adults in Northern Ireland will help Christian relief agency Tearfund launch their new Work a Miracle appeal at the Strand cinema, Belfast, on World AIDS Day.

The appeal aims to help HIV-infected women get access to medicines and information that will prevent their babies being born with the disease.

One in three infected mothers passes HIV on to their newborn child, yet it costs just £7 to pay for two doses of medicine which reduces this risk to 5 per cent, according to studies.

Tim Magowan, Tearfund's Manager in Ireland said, "Money can't buy miracles - we know that. But it can buy clinics, education, orphan care and training for the volunteers to provide counselling and testing. These few measures can go a long way to try and prevent a mother passing HIV to her child."

The event today will give 'twenty-somethings' the opportunity to 'work a miracle' by enabling children in the developing world to have a HIV free start to life. The film The Constant Gardener, which highlights the reality of HIV and AIDS in the developing world, will be featured at the event.

Many churchgoers all over the province have already backed the appeal, raising funds and praying for those affected.

Churchgoer Vic Simms said, "My husband and I are really pleased to be supporting Tearfund's Work a Miracle appeal this Christmas, even a small amount of money and prayer can make a difference to a child's start in life."

A new film produced for Tearfund features Esther, a mother from Malawi who is living with HIV. Esther gave birth to her daughter Alinafe ten years ago on Christmas Day and she knows there is a risk that she may have transmitted HIV to her. Alinafe remains unaware of the danger, and doesn't know why her mother is sick sometimes. "I don't want to tell her that I have HIV," says Esther. "When I'm ill, I tell her I might not get better. But it makes her so sad."