More Focus Needed on Curbing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in Developing Countries, Editorial Says

Curbing mother-to-child HIV transmission worldwide must be made a priority, a Dallas Morning News editorial says. In the U.S., the "war" on mother-to-child transmission has been successful, marked by last week's closing of a day care center for HIV-positive children run by Catholic Charities in Fort Worth, Texas, because it was no longer needed, according to the editorial. However, such a success story is, "at best, a hope" for hard-hit regions of the developing world where "mother-to-child infections inexplicably continue to take a lower priority in the overall HIV/AIDS battle," the Morning News says. As a result, "HIV and AIDS infections continue to steal the future of many nations in a horrible cycle that perpetuates generational poverty, illiteracy and despair," the editorial says. The "youngest and most vulnerable must not be forgotten" in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and limiting vertical transmission of HIV, curbing its spread among young people and dealing with the consequences of AIDS orphans should be "just as important" as preventing the transmission of the virus among adults, the editorial says (Dallas Morning News, 10/31).

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