KENDRAPARA: As many as 172 people including 66 women have died of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the district since 2003, said Additional District Public Health Officer of Kendrapara Dr Pradip Behera. Kendrapara is one of the high-risk districts and is home to 750 HIV affected persons.
Of them, 455 are men, 250 women and 45 children. Out of 36 AIDS affected persons, 19 are women in the district, he said.
In a bid to prevent birth of HIV affected children, the Odisha AIDS Control Society (OACS) has been administering anti-retroviral treatment (ART) drops under its Prevention of Parents to Child Transmission (PPCT) programme to pregnant women affected with HIV and AIDS.
Mother-to-child transmission is the most common way HIV is passed from a mother to her unborn baby during pregnancy, birth or breast-feeding. Earlier, one ART drop was given to affected pregnant women from 2009 to 2014.
“Since one ART drop was not enough for HIV affected pregnant woman to deliver normal child, since January 2015, we have been giving three drops such women,” said Dr Behera.
As part of PPCT programme, anti-retroviral treatment is provided to HIV-positive pregnant women to prevent their infants from acquiring the virus. If the mother takes the test and is found to be HIV positive, she has the option to join the PPCT programme for free.
All HIV positive pregnant or breast feeding women can opt for PPCT. PPCT drops reduce the risk of HIV transmission to the baby and protect the mother’s health during and after pregnancy.
Without treatment, the likelihood of HIV passing from mother-to-child is 30 per cent. However, anti-retroviral treatment and other effective PPCT interventions can reduce this risk to below two per cent, said Dr Behera.
All infants born to HIV-positive mothers should receive a course of anti-retroviral treatment as soon as possible after birth. The treatment should be linked to the mother’s course of anti-retroviral drugs and the infant feeding method.
The officials have already identified high-risk areas in Pattamundai, Rajnagar, Aul and Rajkanika blocks in the district.