Mother to child HIV transmission: HIV Program in Thailand Cuts Risk

July 19, 2001

HIV Program in Thailand Cuts Risk: Thursday July 19 4:01 PM ET

ATLANTA (AP) - A program in Thailand to test and treat women for the

AIDS virus reduced the risk of mother-to-child transmission by

two-thirds, offering a model for other developing

nations, the U.S. government said Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said

the program reduced the transmission risk to 10 percent from 30

percent.

Pregnant women were offered the AIDS drug AZT a few weeks before they

were scheduled to give birth. They were also given a year's worth of

powdered formula for infants to prevent HIV (news - web sites)

transmission through breast-feeding.

Confidential HIV testing also was offered to more than 100,000 women,

about 1 percent of whom tested positive. The test program, which ran

from 1998 to 2000, was administered by Thailand's Ministry of Public

Health.

Worldwide, about 2.2 million women and 600,000 infants contract HIV

each year. The Thailand report came as nine AIDS experts from North

America, Europe and Africa urged the world's top industrial nations to

give more to a new global AIDS fund, saying the $1 billion raised so

far is not enough.

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