Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - Sunday December 9, 2001
Harmonie Toros, Associated Press Writer
To date, treatment of women who were pregnant and HIV-positive had focused on preventing transmission of the disease to the baby, which happens with 600,000 children each year.
"It has been tragic that we treat the mother to prevent transmission and then we say essentially goodbye to the mother because we have nothing else to offer her," said Allan Rosenfield, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, which will coordinate the MTCT program. MTCT stands for mother-to-child transmission.
The pledges Friday came from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Henry J. Kaiser Family, John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation, David and Lucile Packard, the Rockefeller Foundation and U.N. foundations.
The foundations said they were responding to last year's appeal by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who established the Global Fund to Fight AIDS.
The project will be launched in Sub-Saharan Africa, where among the 26 million women who were pregnant in 2001, more than 2.5 million carried HIV. Twenty percent of their children - more than 500,000 babies - are likely to be infected, while the 80 percent who are not infected are likely to be motherless by the time they can walk.
011209
AP011209
Copyright © 2001 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation, and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2001. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2001. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .