Andhra Pradesh - Guntur   

A positive sign indeed

P. Samuel Jonathan

GUNTUR: The rate of antenatal HIV infections among pregnant women is steadily falling in Guntur district, a sure indicator of enhanced surveillance on spread of HIV in the district.

Thanks to a sustained campaign by organisations like Coordinated HIV-AIDS Response through Capacity Building and Awareness (CHARCA), APSACS and government nodal agencies like Prevention of Parent-To-Child Transmission (PPTCT) HIV programme, antenatal infections have come down from a dangerous 3.18 per cent in 2001 to 2.5 per cent in 2006.

The district had the dubious distinction of topping the State with a prevalence rate of 5.2 per cent in 2001, prompting international organisations like the UNICEF to launch CHARCA in the district in 2004.

Of the 11,178 women who were registered at the PPTCT Centre at Government General Hospital for the HIV test during 2006-2007, 11,168 women were counselled and 11,153 women accepted the results of the test and successfully underwent the Anti Retro Viral (ARV) therapy.

Of the 357 women tested for HIV infection, only 23 tested positive with just 8 per cent rate of infection. This was in comparison with a perilous infection rate of 41 in 2002-2003. “The acceptance levels among pregnant women to undergo the test and undergo counselling followed by treatment is rising, which is a welcome sign,” PPTCT project officer C. Vasanth Kumar told The Hindu.

The PPTCT, which was started in 2002 at the Gynaecology Department at the GGH, continues to provide medical and counselling services to pregnant women. The unit is headed by the Head of Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and comprises of surgeons, assistant professors, psychologists and social workers. Counselling is done in a professional manner and the details of the patient are kept confidential.

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