Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society(APSACS) is holding an experience sharing programme on Tuesday, involving select nursing homes, Unicef and health officials. The programme is aimed at eliminating the new pediatric HIV infection.
The society, since 2008, has been entering into partnerships with private nursing homes to assist them in counselling and treating HIV patients. Till date, 265 nursing homes have entered into partnership with APSACS.
Officials and stakeholders at the programme will prepare a road map for coming years to rope in major corporate hospitals into partnership with APSACS.
Dr JC Reddy, joint director, basic services, APSACS, said only 50 percent of pregnant women are tested for HIV at government facilities. “We do not know whether the remaining 50 percent, who go to private nursing homes, are being tested for HIV or not. So, from 2008, we started partnering with nursing homes,” he said.
Since April 2013, about 1.60 lakh pregnant women are tested for HIV at nursing homes, out of whom 386 were detected to be HIV positive.
Only if we cover those opting for private nursing homes, can we aim for zero HIV transmission from mother to child, he added.
To rope in more hospitals, APSACS has appointed an NGO as a partner, which conducts field analysis to identify nursing homes and convince them to collaborate.