The Government has announced a new HIV testing
programme aimed at reducing the number of babies born with HIV in the UK. All
pregnant women are to be offered an HIV test as part of their routine antenatal
care. Though testing will remain voluntary, women will have to 'opt-out' of the
new scheme if they do not wish to confirm their HIV status.
Medical
advances made in recent years mean that the risk of HIV transmission from
mother-to-baby can now be significantly reduced through the uptake of
appropriate antenatal care and anti-HIV treatment. However, these measures can
only be applied where women have their infection diagnosed. UK statistics
suggest there were 265 children born to HIV-positive women in 1997, and that
more than two thirds of those infections remained undiagnosed at the time of
birth.
The vast majority of these women live in London, however, which
has led some observers to question whether the routine testing of all pregnant
women - most of whom will be at very low risk of HIV infection - will prove a
cost-effective strategy. According to research published in the 19th June issue
of the British Medical Journal, a universal screening programme was
estimated to be cost-effective in London and other high prevalence areas. In
areas with low prevalence, such schemes might only prove cost-effective if the
increased volume of HIV tests performed would reduce the overall unit cost of
HIV testing.
A thorough review of HIV transmission from mother-to-baby
can be read here on aidsmap.com at href="http://www.aidsmap.com/heading3.asp?heading2=Options+during+pregnancy&newBrowse=true">Options
during pregnancy