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Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation/Glaser Pediatric Research Network NEW! Click
here for our Public Service Announcement Video Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in India Although the overall rate of HIV in India is quite low (.9%), the country’s population of more than 1 billion means the number of individuals infected with HIV, currently estimated at between 5.2 million and 5.7 million, may be the highest in the world. While India has recently experienced some encouraging declines in HIV seroprevalence overall, the rates of decline are limited to certain states. With funding from JFC, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) is supporting PMTCT projects in four of the six states designated high prevalence by the Indian government. Efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS in India are tremendously important given that many more people are likely to be infected if we don’t act now. Jewelers for Children has provided support for our nine projects in India that are making a difference in the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT). Thanks in part to our partnership, EGPAF’s India program reached major milestones over the last 12 months, bringing essential PMTCT services to more women and their infants. Program highlights include: A total of 105 health care sites are now supporting PMTCT activities, reaching just over 80,000 women with HIV counseling. Nearly all of women counseled (99%) chose to be tested for HIV. Cumulative program results as well as results for calendar year 2006 are detailed below. Cumulative program results: From the beginning of the EGPAF India PMTCT project in 2002 through the end of 2006, more than 260,000 pregnant women were counseled about HIV and nearly 255,000 (95%) were tested. Just less than one percent (.83%) were found to be HIV-positive. Of those, 1,868 (87.9%) received antiretroviral prophylaxis, as did 1,519 (71.4%) of their infants. Program results for 2006: The program continued to improve in 2006 to provide greater percentages of women with testing and to provide increased percentage of positive women and their infants with ARVs: 87,170 eligible women were identified and 93% received counseling. Of those counseled, nearly all received HIV testing (99.5%). Of the women that tested HIV+, the program succeeded in delivering ARVs to an impressive 100%. Of the infants born to positive women, 78% received antiretroviral prophylaxis to prevent HIV transmission. The values for the cascade are presented below. India 2006 PMTCT Cascade
During 2006, support from Jewelers for Children enabled EGPAF to begin to expand the reach of the program and to leverage funding from other donors to support future expansion. In particular, EGPAF representatives traveled to Manipur, another of India’s high prevalence states, and laid the groundwork for a PMTCT implementation project there. JFC’s funding also allowed EGPAF to increase our in-country management and technical oversight of our projects, which was crucial as the program grew to more than 100 sites in 2006. Having an in-country presence helps in numerous ways, but especially in facilitating our interaction with government health authorities at both the state and national level. This coordination is essential for:
In addition to preventing mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS, our program is also having an impact by helping women avoid contracting HIV/AIDS before they become pregnant. A recent national survey revealed that nearly half of the women polled were unaware of HIV. Through the HIV counseling for all women at our sites since the program began, more than a quarter of a million women had access to critical information about HIV primary prevention and how to reduce the chance of transmitting it to their babies. We sincerely thank Jewelers for Children for their valued support of EGPAF’s PMTCT program in India during this critical time of growth and partnership. Your support will mean that greater numbers of women and infants in India will have access to life saving HIV/AIDS education and interventions.
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