The gynaecology department of JJ Hospital has a reason to feel proud about. In the last one year, the department got 100% success in delivering HIV-free babies from 98 HIV-infected mothers.
Doctors give credit to the new three-tablet regime which had been administered to these women during their pregnancy. These drugs were provided by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) absolutely free. This new drug regime has given hope to the HIV-affected women because their child would be completely HIV-free.
NACO has accredited JJ Hospital as a centre of excellence for the programme 'Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV'. Since March 2014, after a follow-up by doctors, the government introduced the new single tablet that has a combination of three drugs (Tenofovir/Lamivudine/Efavirenz) TLE.
Before the TLE, doctors used to prescribe Nevirapine (NVP) to HIV-affected women to treat HIV-1 infection and AIDS. "Earlier, we use to give one tablet of Nevirapine to HIV-affected mothers who came for delivery. The tablet is fine but we were not getting 100% results; there was always 10% risk that the child would get infected with HIV. But in the new drugs regime, we have got fantastic results in our centre. There is a long way to go with this regime but looking at this initial success we are hopeful. The children are completely normal and the mothers will have to take these drugs to maintain their health for the rest of their life," said Dr Davar from the department.
However, one issue that still doctors as well as parents can't get rid of is the stigma in society. "We get the complaints from HIV-affected parents that their children are discriminated against. People have to change their mindset.
They should understand that HIV does not spread by playing with the children whose parents are HIV positive. If we want a HIV/AIDS-free society, then we should care for people who carry the virus. This way, they will feel free to approach doctors for treatment."
