AIDS Intervention Programs Reduce Mother-to-Fetus Transmission in China

China's efforts to reduce mother-to-baby HIV transmission are paying off, according to Fu Wei, a senior official with the Ministry of Health. China's pilot program providing free HIV testing and counseling for pregnant women launched in 2003 in eight counties in five provinces; by 2010, it had expanded to 1,156 counties in 31 provincial divisions. In areas offering the intervention, the proportion of babies infected by their HIV-positive mothers dropped to 7.9 percent from 33 percent in 2003. Last year, China added free syphilis and hepatitis B testing to the program. In 2010, the outreach cost 839 million yuan (US $131 million) and reached 6.4 million pregnant women, or about 44 percent of China's expectant mothers. As of June, 17,202 pregnant women in China were diagnosed as HIV-positive, Fu said.

Back to other news for September 2011