Mother to child HIV transmission rates come down to 2% in AP

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Mother to child HIV transmission rates come down to 2% in AP

SHEETAL VYAS

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2002 11:37:22 PM ]

AIDS. Taboo word. Dreaded disease. But with 38 lakh children and

adults living with the disease, it's not something we can ignore any

longer.

Even after seven years of government sponsored programmes and

millions in aid dollars, HIV continues pose one of the biggest

challenges to health workers. The prevention of transmission from

mother to child has been identified as one of the ways to stem the

spread of the virus.

A baby born to an HIV-positive mother has a 25 to 35 per cent chance

of becoming infected during childbirth or through breastfeeding. More

than 540,000 children world over were infected in this way in the

year 2000 alone. But there's good news. According to a pilot study

conducted by National AIDS Control Organisation, New Delhi, the rates

of transmission have come down drastically – from 36 per cent to 10

in the span of a year.

This feasibility study was carried out across 11 hospitals all over

the country, including Nayapul Hospital in Hyderabad. According to

the NACO MTCT report, the transmission rates for the state lower than

the national average and stand at two per cent. Says K Damyanti,

project director, APSACS, " It varies from district to district but

averages out to 2.02 per cent in the state.

Which means that of 16 lakh pregnant mothers every year, 32,000

children will be born with HIV. " How does the MTCT intervention work?

Dr Subhash Hira, Director, Aids Research and Control Organisation

(ARCON) Mumbai, explains, " It involves administering a drug called

AZT during the last month of pregnancy and a few doses during

delivery as well. "

And the study is soon going to be implemented in a big way in Andhra

Pradesh. " The initial training is being conducted by the Nayapul

Hospital at 13 hospitals that are attached to medical colleges in the

city. And they will start work in April. The district hospitals will

be trained in May and June and they should be operational by July. So

within a few months, we should see the results of this study

implemented. "

The programme also has the additional advantage of bringing families

into the awareness programme. Says Hira, " Initially during AIDS

awareness, we talked mostly to men and sex workers. Now we have a

great opportunity to reach families through women as well. It gives

us a wider base. "

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