Anti-AIDS chapter launched to protect women

A new initiative to protect Gambian women against HIV/AIDS was recently launched by the Minister for Women's Affairs, Isatou Njie-Saidy. During the launch of the National Women's Chapter against HIV/AIDS in the capital, Banjul, the Minister said women and children were most affected by "the dismal scourge of HIV/AIDS," because of their vulnerability and precarious economic conditions. The Pan African News Agency quoted Njie-Saidy as saying: "They have little or no choice when it comes to making decisions on their health or, sometimes, on their sexuality." UNAIDS has estimated that some 8,400 Gambians in a population of 1.5 million were already living with HIV/AIDS in 2001.