Commission research leads to guidelines for HIV positive pregnant women
New guidelines to reduce mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV have emerged from research carried out by a European consortium of scientists. The best practice advice, to be published on 28 June, was drawn up by a consortium of 15 research teams from seven European countries. The report highlights that certain precautions and the use of anti-retroviral therapy during pregnancy, labour and in the neonatal period can reduce the risk of MCTC from between 15 to 20 per cent to just two per cent. 'The definition of HIV treatment guidelines that will limit the risk of mother to child transmission of the virus is a good example of the benefits of research cooperation at EU level,' said Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin. 'HIV knows no borders and we need to bring together the best specialists to stem the epidemic and find appropriate treatments.' Worldwide, 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, of which 17.6 million are women. In Europe, 560,000 people are living with AIDS. The number of HIV infected adults continues to increase - 30,000 were infected in 2001 and 25 per cent of these are women. The Commission says the occurrence of HIV positive pregnant women is a growing concern. Although effective anti-retroviral therapy is now available to delay progression of the disease, this must be used with care and under particular circumstances. The Commission guidelines recommend: - that all pregnant women (and if possible their partners) have an HIV test; - offering HIV infected women the option of delivering their child through a caesarean section (before labour and the rupture of membranes) as this has been shown to reduce the risk of MTCT; - offering all HIV infected women anti-retroviral therapy during pregnancy to reduce MTCT, with choice of therapy and timing depending on their clinical status; - anti-retroviral therapy for the child immediately after birth; - strongly advising HIV infected mothers against breast feeding, as the risk of MTCT through breastfeeding is substantial and unnecessary as safe alternatives are available. The European Commission is committed to combating AIDS in Europe through the 'combating major diseases' priority of the Sixth Framework programme (FP6). It also tackling the disease in developing countries through the European-Developing Countries Clinical Trials programme (EDCTP), which will devote 200 million euro to encouraging cooperation between Africa and Europe.