There was no instance of newborns getting HIV/AIDS from infected mothers who had sought treatment in Government facilities in Coimbatore in the last two years, according to officials of the District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit (DAPCU) here.
The nil transmission rate was achieved under the Prevention of Parent-to-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS (PPTCT) programme wherein antenatal mothers are given drugs that prevent the virus from getting transmitted from an HIV/AIDS infected mother to the child.
“Under PPTCT, pregnant women who test HIV-positive are given triple drug therapy (Tenofovir, Lamivudine and Efavirenz combination) which fights transmission of the virus (human immuno-deficiency virus) to the newborn. Under the regimen, the newborns are also given drug in the form of nevirapine syrup,” said District Programme Manager of DAPCU B. Sundaresan on Thursday.
As per data provided by DAPCU, the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Coimbatore in 2018-19 was 0.28 %, out of the 1.95 lakh people who were screened. The prevalence rate was 0.30 % among the 1.73 lakh people were screened in 2017-18, Dr. Sundaresan said.
Targeted intervention
At present, three non-Governmental organisations are involved in targeted intervention programmes of Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society among high-risk groups.
While the NGO named Imayam is engaged in targeted intervention among transgenders, Native Medicare Charitable Trust is working among migrant workers. Another NGO named Swastik works among men who have same sex partners.
On the screening and treatment fronts, Coimbatore has two Antiretroviral therapy (ART) centres, one at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital and the other at the District Headquarters Hospital in Pollachi. There are six link-ART centres functioning in Government hospitals at Valparai, S.S. Kulam, Karamadai, Pooluvampatti, Somanur and also at the Coimbatore Central Prison.
There are 27 standalone Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTC) and 95 facilitator ICTCs where screenings and confirmatory tests for HIV are done.
