Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's Scientific Director Presents Results From The Foundation's International MTCT Program At The 9th Annual Conference On Retrovirus And Opportunistic Infections

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Wednesday, 27 February 2002

Program Has Reached Over 50,000 Women and Expanded to More Than 100 Sites

At the 9th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections today, Cathy Wilfert, M.D., Scientific Director of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, presented initial results from the Foundation's international program to prevent mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT) of HIV. Initiated in September of 1999, the program allows international health care sites, non-governmental organizations, and community-based organizations to apply for funds that will help implement programs to prevent MTCT of HIV. These funds are used for community mobilization and training of health care workers, HIV counseling and testing, antiretroviral prevention regimens and infant feeding education.

With recent grants awarded in Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Russia and Uganda, the Call to Action Project has grown to include active programs in over 100 sites throughout 13 countries. Already, 50,000 women have received HIV counseling and/or testing, and it is estimated that this number will grow beyond 250,000 by the end of next year. The average uptake of testing across the sites is estimated to be 78%. The average seroprevalence is 15%, with the highest site having an estimated 45% seroprevalence.

Several of the original sites have already begun expansion and we are currently helping to facilitate nationwide scale up in Uganda and Zimbabwe. The Foundation is also working to help develop effective programs and proposals for potential sites in countries like the Caribbean and India, which face an alarming growth in HIV prevalence unless immediate steps are taken. As the Foundation's global reach continues to expand, so too do the numbers of children given the chance for a healthy start in life.

For more information, or to contact Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, see their website at: www.pedaids.org