Since 2005, GAIA VF has been providing Mother to Child HIV Transmission Prevention in Mali, West Africa.
This is the simplest, most direct means of preventing HIV. It is also incredibly low cost.
GLOBAL: Group Says Infants Needlessly Get HIV
Boston Globe (05.22.09) – Friday, May 22, 2009
Marilyn Chase, Bloomberg News
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Mother-to-child HIV infections have been almost eradicated in the global North, but prevention interventions are not accessible for the vast majority of HIV-positive women who will become pregnant in the developing world, according to an international coalition of HIV/AIDS advocates.
Just 33 percent of HIV-positive pregnant women have access to antiretroviral prophylaxis to prevent vertical HIV transmission, the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) said in a new report. “At least three- quarters of HIV-positive pregnant women in 61 countries, including Cameroon, Ethiopia, India, and Nigeria, are still not receiving this intervention,” the report found.
ITPC blames the gap on poor coordination by government and global health groups, lack of funding, and the value of “wealthy women over poor.” “Donors talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk,” said Gregg Gonsalves, ITPC’s leader.
“Overall coverage is still very low for this proven, inexpensive intervention,” said Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, who agreed with many of the report’s findings.
Even among pregnant women who do receive antiretroviral treatment to prevent vertical transmission, most get single- dose nevirapine, according to ITPC’s report. While the treatment can reduce transmission risk by 40 percent, it also increases the chance of sparking drug-resistant HIV in the mother, ITPC said. Only 8 percent of women receive a triple- drug combination, which is more effective, less apt to provoke drug resistance, and costs less than $100 per patient per year, Gonsalves said.
To access the report, visit http://www.aidstreatmentaccess.org/mtt7_final.pdf.