Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Press - Friday, July 5, 2002
Anjira Assavanonda
The study, which started last year, was conducted by the Health Services Department with the help of American and French experts.
Siriporn Kanchana, the department's deputy chief, said the study consists of two projects.
In the first project, HIV-positive mothers were given 300-mg AZT each after 34 weeks of pregnancy and during child delivery. Their new-born babies were also given the same drug and fed with formula milk.
The treatment reduced the rate of mother-to-child transmission from 25% to less than 10%, it was found.
The other project involved the use of another potent anti-retroviral drug, Nevirapine (NVP), in combination with AZT during the same periods as in the first project.
The two study projects have been conducted among 1,500 HIV-positive pregnant women at 34 state hospitals in 30 provinces, including Rayong, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Khon Kaen.
The combined use of AZT and NVP was found to have reduced the infection risk even further, with the transmission rate dropping to less than 5%.
The preliminary results from the two study projects, expected to be completed by this year's end, had proved effective so far, Dr Siriporn said.
What needed to be further determined was whether the anti-retroviral drugs could reduce the transmission rate if given to a mother only, or whether it should be given to a baby as well.
If proved successful, the programme would be expanded to four other provinces -- Ubon Ratchathani, Yala, Lampang and Udon Thani.
In the department's latest survey, 7,000 of more than 600,000 pregnant women who underwent blood tests were found to be infected. And 5,000 of the infected had received anti-retroviral drugs.
Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said the studies would be presented at next week's 14th International Aids Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
Also to be presented is another advanced project involving a HIV vaccine trial, considered the world's largest community-based trial in the over-10-year history of vaccine development efforts.
The trial will involve 16,000 HIV-negative volunteers aged between 20-30 in eight districts of Rayong and Chon Buri provinces.
The project is aimed at testing the "prime-boost" vaccine strategy, in which two different types of vaccine are used to gain improved immune response.
Recruitment of volunteers is likely to begin by December, after the trial is approved by all concerned panels both in Thailand and the United States.
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