Stopping Child Infections Key to AIDS Fight, US Says

An additional $75 million toward preventing mother-to-child HIV infections should help achieve the global goal of eliminating new MTC cases by 2015, Dr. Eric Goosby, the US global AIDS coordinator, said Tuesday. The $75 million injection, added to $300 million already committed, is pledged by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chevron, and Johnson & Johnson.

AIDS mortality has declined roughly 40 percent in countries targeted by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Goosby said at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. In 2008, Congress authorized another $48 billion over five years for PEPFAR, which now is active in more than 30 countries.

In 2009, US spending accounted for almost 60 percent of the $7.6 billion spent fighting HIV/AIDS in developing nations. However, synergies could be realized by converging with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria on MTC issues, Goosby said.

More resources could help meet the 80 percent coverage target for testing pregnant women and 85 percent MTC programming coverage for those testing positive, Goosby said. In Africa’s most-affected countries, just 26 percent of women are tested for HIV. Worldwide in developing countries, UNICEF estimates 53 percent of HIV-positive pregnant women receive antiretroviral therapy to prevent MTC transmissions.

PEPFAR prevention efforts are focusing on providing women access to counseling, antiretrovirals and reproductive health care.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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