CRC/C/THA/CO/2 page 14 Environmental health 55. The Committee is concerned about a range of environmental problems such as air pollution and environmental degradation, including shortcomings in the municipal and industrial waste management, which have serious consequences for children’s health and development. While noting improvements in water and sanitation, particularly for rural families, the Committee is concerned about regional disparities as regards access to safe drinking water and sanitation. 56. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Continue to take effective measures to improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, particularly in remote areas of the country; and (b) Increase children’s knowledge of environmental health issues by introducing environmental health education programmes in schools. HIV/AIDS 57. The Committee commends the State party for having met Millennium Development Goal 6 well ahead of schedule. It welcomes the various multisectoral measures taken to address the prevention and reduction of HIV/AIDS infection and takes note of the national programme for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT), which provides pregnant women with voluntary counselling and free HIV-testing. The Committee nevertheless expresses its concern at the relatively high rate of children born at risk from mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS annually. It notes with concern that adolescents are increasingly at risk of HIV-infection while the level of HIV/AIDS awareness among them has decreased. It is also concerned about the presence of risk factors predisposing HIV-infection such as the high number of sex workers. Further, it is concerned that that free trade agreements currently being negotiated with some other countries may negatively impact access to affordable medicines, in particular antiretroviral drugs. 58. The Committee recommends that the State party, taking into account its general comment No. 3 on HIV/AIDS and the rights of the child of 2003 (CRC/GC/2003/3) and the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights (E/CN.4/1997/37), continue to: (a) Take multisectoral efforts to prevent new HIV-infections by adopting and implementing policies and programmes that particularly reflect community-level realities and by providing more technical and financial support for local-level programming, implementation and monitoring; (b) Fully implement the national programme for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT) by providing all pregnant women with adequate health and social services free of charge and by providing HIV-positive mothers with antiretroviral drugs and formula feeding for infants;