Hillary Clinton pledges to put women, girls first in AIDS fight

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Obama administration will put women and girls first in the fight against AIDS.

The Secretary addressed an international AIDS conference in Namibia by video hookup Wednesday.

She says her government will prioritize preventing mother-to-child transmission of the virus that causes AIDS, and work to ensure girls are not forced into prostitution or early marriages.

Africans have welcomed the election of Barack Obama, who has roots in Kenya and is America's first black president. But Africans also have applauded George W. Bush, Obama's predecessor, for an AIDS campaign launched in 2003 that expanded AIDS prevention, treatment and support programs in 15 hard-hit countries, 12 of them African.