RWANDA: High acceptance rate in HIV prevention project

A programme to prevent the mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Rwanda has registered a high acceptance rate, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has revealed.

Dr Robert Limlim, the head of UNICEF's HIV/AIDS programme, said: "By December 2000 it was clear that we had a very high rate of acceptance. More than 95 percent of the mothers were tested, and more than 85 percent of the ones who were positive agreed to join the programme."

UNICEF said the pilot programme, which started in 1999, had helped to reduce the number of HIV-positive babies born to women living with HIV/AIDS.

Initial results showed that two years after programme's inception, only 3.8 percent of children born to HIV-positive mothers were infected.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews, Children,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]