Strengthened AIDS action planned for north

Government officials are drafting a special strategic plan to better address the spread of HIV/AIDS in Uganda's war-torn northern districts, where HIV prevalence is thought to be between 16 percent and 18 percent. According to the country's AIDS Control Programme executive director, Dr Elizabeth Madra, anti-AIDS efforts in the north were failing as a result of poor coordination among NGOs, the Ministry of Health and donors. The local New Vision newspaper quoted Madra as saying: "The population has also suffered abductions in the war, hence the high HIV/AIDS prevalence." Lord's Resistance Army rebels in northern Uganda have been fighting the government since 1988, often abducting young boys as recruits and forcing young girls to work as porters and sex slaves.