GRI is focusing on specific aspects of its programs in the field to better educate people on issues facing displaced populations and to encourage action on behalf of those who are suffering. The first issue being discussed is at the core of GRI’s Relief and Development programs, which is the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV.
What is mother-to-child transmission?
Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is when an HIV positive woman passes the virus to her baby. This can occur during pregnancy, labor and delivery, or breastfeeding. Without treatment, around 15-30% of babies born to HIV positive women will become infected with HIV during pregnancy and delivery. A further 5-20% will become infected through breastfeeding.
Is MTCT a major problem?
In 2007, around 370,000 children under 15 became infected with HIV, mainly through mother-to-child transmission. About 90% of these MTCT infections occurred in Africa where AIDS is beginning to reverse decades of steady progress in child survival.
In high income countries MTCT has been virtually eliminated thanks to effective voluntary testing and counseling, access to antiretroviral therapy, safe delivery practices, and the widespread availability and safe use of breast-milk substitutes. If these interventions were used worldwide, they could save the lives of thousands of children each year.
How can MTCT be prevented (PMTCT)?
GRI’s PMTCT programs focus on three approaches to preventing transmission:
- Preventing HIV infection among prospective parents
- Avoiding unwanted pregnancies among HIV positive women
- Preventing the transmission of HIV from HIV positive mothers to their infants during pregnancy, labor, delivery and breastfeeding
The last of these are achieved by the use of antiretroviral drugs, delivery with a skilled birth attendant and safer infant feeding practices.
Treatment for the mother
Women who have reached the advanced stages of HIV disease require a combination of antiretroviral drugs for their own health. This treatment, which must be taken every day for the rest of a woman's life, is also highly effective at preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). Women who require treatment will usually be advised to take it, beginning either immediately or after the first trimester. Their newborn babies will usually be given a course of treatment for the first few days or weeks of life, to lower the risk even further.
Pregnant women who do not yet need treatment for their own HIV infection can take a short course of drugs to help protect their unborn babies.
Single dose Nevirapine
A single dose of Nevirapine given to the mother at the onset of labor and to the baby after delivery can roughly halve the rate of HIV transmission. GRI has been working to provide Nevirapine treatments in our programs since 2006 and has seen results even higher than 50%. As it is given only once to the mother and baby, single dose Nevirapine is relatively cheap and easy to administer. Since 2000, many thousands of babies in resource-poor countries have benefited from this simple intervention, which has been the mainstay of many PMTCT programs.
Will you help GRI provide life-saving interventions to those who have no hope by giving your donation today?
Antiretroviral drugs for treating pregnant women and preventing HIV infection in infants in resource-limited settings: towards universal access', WHO, 2006
