Women avoiding free anti-AIDS treatment

Pregnant women in Uganda are shunning anti-AIDS drugs that help prevent the mother-to-child transmission of HIV, the Uganda AIDS Commission has said. The director-general of the commission, Dr David Apuuli, said up to 25 percent of new infections were the result of mother-to-child transmission, but less than five percent of women were making use of the free treatment. He said the commission was looking for ways to popularise existing programmes for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. A local newspaper, New Vision, quoted Apuuli as saying: "We want to offer a family package to include the husband, wife and the children in the treatment."