Swaziland, with the world's highest rate of HIV, cut Aids day events, and South Africa's health minister publicly refused to back anti-retroviral drugs.
US President George W Bush pledged new funds and called for decisive action. The EU stressed the need for effective measures to prevent the disease....
win southern African snubs were setbacks for campaigners aiming to raise global awareness and education levels about HIV/Aids, correspondents say.
South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who has long been lukewarm over the usefulness of anti-retroviral drugs, refused to back their use.
Many African countries encourage abstinence to avoid infection
In an interview, she said that anti-retrovirals offered no cure, and that she might use food supplements or traditional medicines if she became infected.
In Swaziland, a royal decree cancelled a planned speech on Aids by the prime minister, citing a clash with a traditional festival.
Some 38% of Swazi adults are HIV positive, rising to 56% for women in their late twenties.
In Nigeria, President Olusegun Obasanjo went for and early morning run with HIV-positive joggers.
But not all in his country, Africa's most populous, were joining in official celebrations.
Lagos craftsman Mufu Adebajo watched from his roadside stall as a small procession filed past.
"Since I believe I don't have it, I don't see why I should march," he told the Associated Press news agency.
"Otherwise, people will think I have it."
More than 40m people are infected with HIV/Aids, according to the UN.
'The lessons of nearly 25 years into the Aids epidemic are clear. Investments made in HIV prevention break the cycle of new infections,' said Peter Piot, executive director of UNAids.
'By making these investments, each and every country can reverse the spread of Aids.'"
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