U.S. Should ‘Export Our Medical Miracle’ To Help Prevent Vertical HIV Transmission in Developing Countries, Editorial Says
Following public health officials' announcement last week that mother-to-child HIV transmission in the United States is nearly eliminated, the "challenge now is to export our medical miracle" to developing nations, an Austin American-Statesman editorial says. (Austin American-Statesman, 2/2). In 1990, nearly 2,000 U.S. infants were born HIV-positive, but that number has been cut to approximately 200 annually today. The sharp decline is due in large part to the availability of antiretroviral drugs that when given to an HIV-positive pregnant womn can greatly reduce the risk of passing HIV to her fetus or infant during pregnancy or delivery (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/31). Although the United States' near elimination of mother-to-child HIV transmission is an "incredible medical breakthrough" that is "something to cheer," HIV-positive pregnant women in developing nations continue to pass the virus on to their infants "at alarming rates," the editorial says (Austin American-Statesman, 2/2).
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