Group says infants needlessly get HIV
Most of world's infected mothers lack access to drug
SAN FRANCISCO - Two-thirds of expectant mothers with HIV never get the drugs that protect their fetuses, leading the virus to spread to 370,000 newborns a year, a treatment advocacy group said.
Only 33 percent of pregnant women with HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, receive antivirals proven 15 years ago to block mother-to-child transmission of the disease, said a report released yesterday from the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition.
The group blamed governments and global health groups for poor coordination, funding gaps, and valuing "wealthy women over poor."
Approximately 33 million people in the world have HIV/AIDS and 2.7 million people a year become infected, according to the United Nations. In the most hard-hit countries, AIDS has shortened life expectancy by 20 years, the UN said.
"Donors talk the talk, but don't walk the walk," coalition leader Gregg Gonsalves said.
Michel Sidibe, executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, agreed with many of the report's findings. "Overall coverage is still very low for this proven, inexpensive . . . intervention," he said.
Most women with access to prevention get the cheapest possible regimen for themselves and their babies - a single pill of the drug nevirapine, according to the report. Nevirapine cuts transmission to babies by 40 percent and may also spark the rise of drug-resistant strains of the AIDS virus, the report said.
Triple-drug combination therapy that is more effective and less likely to cause drug resistance costs less than $100 a year per patient, Gonsalves said. About 8 percent of women in developing countries now get it. 