By Sheana Laughlin
12 March 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Worldwide, 1,100 children are infected with HIV every day, and without treatment 50 percent of them will die by the age of two, reports the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Together with the World Health Organization and Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), UNICEF stressed the need to scale up services for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) during a recent meeting on global HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C.
The three global health organizations urged countries to prioritize PMTCT and pediatric care in their grant proposals to the Global Fund, which started accepting applications last week.
“The Global Fund is a critically important resource for countries to expand PMTCT services and pediatric care, two areas where the global response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic is lagging,” said Pamela W. Barnes, President and Chief Executive Officer of EGPAF.
Women make up half of all new HIV infections in the world and 90 percent of all new infections in children are the result of mother-to-child transmission, reports UNICEF. While many countries are implementing PMTCT programs, there are still large global inequities in treatment and access to services.
“One of the greatest challenges, and this is where the Global Fund is so important, is building and finding the resources in these countries in order to provide access to PMTCT. And having the word out that these kind of services are available and that they are very effective,” Barnes told MediaGlobal.
UNICEF reports that in low- and middle-income countries, as many as nine in ten HIV-positive pregnant women do not receive the medicines they need to prevent the transmission of HIV to their babies, which has resulted in a high global mother-to-child transmission rate.
Even with the most basic treatment it is possible to reduce the mother-to-child infection rate by as much as 40 percent, Barnes explained. She said that by working toward the World Health Organization guidelines, a more sophisticated regimen, transmission rates could be reduced to below 10 percent. “These are highly effective treatments in the developed world and we’ve been able to reduce the transmission rate to well under 2 percent,” she added.
It’s a matter of funding, awareness and access to services. While HIV testing and treatment often carries a social stigma, EGPAF has found that once women know that the services are there, and that they are safe and effective, they are eager to receive them. In fact, evidence shows that 95 percent of women who go into an EGPAF clinic agree to be tested for HIV, and 97 percent of pregnant women who test positive for HIV accept PMTCT services.
When it comes to awareness, “In many of the countries we are now beginning to see tremendous leadership at a national level,” said Barnes, who provided the recent example of the Tanzanian President and First Lady, who were tested for HIV on national television.
“Shortly after, people were actually lining up to be tested, and the message was that it’s okay to be tested,” she added. “National leadership is really becoming much more critical for people being able to access the services that are there, that are effective.”
The Global Fund is a partnership among governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities to address issues of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The three health organizations strongly urged countries to take advantage of such funding to scale up services for PMTCT and pediatric AIDS treatment.
“We have the scientific tools to prevent most new pediatric infections around the world,” said Barnes. “We must now do all that we can to speed these services to the women and children who so desperately need them.”