UN Campaign to Eliminate HIV in Newborns

The United Nations, in collaboration with the U.S. government, has waged a war against inherited HIV.

The initiative, called the Countdown to Zero, will target HIV positive pregnant women. The goal of the initiative is to eliminate mother to child HIV transmission by 2015.

According to International HIV and AIDS charitable organization, AVERT, the chance of a pregnant woman (who is not on preventative drug therapy) giving birth to an HIV positive child is 20-45 percent. HIV positive pregnant women who receive drug therapy combined with other interventions, like formula feeding, can reduce the chances of their child being born with HIV to 2 percent.

UNAIDS Executive director, Michael Sidibe, believes that “by 2015 children everywhere can be born free of HIV and that their mothers can remain healthy." 

Many children born HIV positive are from developing or middle-income countries and sub-Saharan Africa. UN officials believe that eliminating mother to child HIV transmission can be accomplished by 2015, and may aid in creating an HIV free generation.

Source: bbc.co.uk, avert.org
Photo credit: whocarescampaign.org, un.cv