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Life saving HIV laboratory for infants launched
2007-11-27 15:00:01
By Simon Kivamwo
Hardly a week to go before Tanzania marks World’s AIDS Day (Stop AIDS: Leadership), another step towards fighting the pandemic was recorded this weekend in Mwanza when a new laboratory, able to carry out early infant HIV diagnosis (EID) using dried blood spot (DBS) was launched at Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) by the Minister responsible for Health and Social Affairs Prof. David Mwakyusa. Correspondent Simon Kivamwo witnessed the event and narrates further...
This laboratory is the first of its kind in Tanzania and will be able to detect HIV infection in children as young as four weeks of age.
The laboratory enables earlier diagnosis through a process which involves testing a drop of an infant`s blood collected through a prick of an infant`s heel onto a filter paper, says Dr Charles Majinge, Chief Executive Director of BMC.
The laboratory has been developed through technical and financial aid provided to BMC by the International Centre for AIDS care and Treatment Programme of Columbia University (ICAP-CU), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfar (MoHSW) and with support from the US’ President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFA) through the Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC).
In all, BMC has received over $200,000 (around 224m/=) from ICAP-CU including procurement of the laboratory equipment and reagents, supplies, training and ongoing technical assistance for quality assurance and control. Additional support is provided to BMC from AIDS Relief organisation to assist in HIV treatment.
Since its inception in 2003, PEPFAR has contributed over $500 million (around 550bn/=) in Tanzania towards combating HIV/AIDS. This fiscal year, the USG expects to increase PEPFAR assistance by an additional $303 million.
According to Dr Majinge, prior to the start of this new testing, it has not been possible to know whether a child was infected with HIV until he or she was 18 months.
By then, many children would have died from AIDS without treatment. But now, infants will be able to be diagnosed earlier and get treatment sooner- those who are found to be HIV positive.
EID for HIV, Dr Majinge says, will now be part of routine care for infants whose parents have tested positive through prevention of mother to child transmission programmes within the antenatal care package. Up to Thursday this week, over 1,400 had received early HIV testing at the laboratory, he says.
Launching the laboratory on Thursday, Prof Mwakyusa said, the laboratory was of paramount importance in complying with the on-going countrywide campaigns against HIV/AIDS.
``We can not win this war if we can`t exercise leadership and responsibility to our people. The facility we are launching today demonstrates joint leadership efforts of the government and our development partners,`` - This year`s AIDS Day theme is: Keep Your Promises-Stop HIV/AIDS- Leadership.
Prof Mwakyusa said, the evidence had shown that more than 50 percent of the infected children were likely to die at the age of 12 months if not provided with proper care and treatment.
``As you all know that affective care and treatment is available, but it can not be initiated without testing the child for HIV status,``.
Tanzania has of late scaled up the accessibility of HIV testing countrywide through the introduction of various innovative approaches and the use of rapid tests, and now EID laboratory at BMC which now caters for the originally complicated infants` HIV diagnosis by the fact that the mother’s antibody circulate in the infant for as long as 18 months.
``Realising this, my ministry and our development partners have taken a positive strategy for HIV diagnosis of infants by establishing this facility,`` the Minister noted.
Speaking on behalf of the US Ambassador, Dr Stefan Wiktor, CDC Country Director said, the launch of the laboratory represented a major advance in addressing paediatric AIDS and would help ensure that infants received appropriate HIV care and Antiretroviral Therapy. Always, the death of a child is a tragedy, it should not be allowed.
``The new diagnosis method will allow parents to get answers faster and begin planning for the future,`` said Dr Wiktor, notting that: Now parents will know if their child has HIV as early as 4 weeks of age and they will be able to take them to HIV treatment centres for treatment.
The laboratory’s construction started early last year and started offering services in October 2006 as part of a pilot project in three facilities in Mwanza, namely, BMC, Sekou Toure Hospital and Makongoro Health Centre.
The services were later stretched to neighbouring Kagera Regional Hospital . Today, over 35 health facilities in six regions are accessing the services and the lab will soon be able to process samples from across the country.
A vividly excited ICAP-CU Country Director Amy Cunningham said the laboratory launch was critical step that would also link the entire family to life saving HIV care and treatment services.
``The launch of this laboratory for the public, represents a paradigm shift in addressing paediatric AIDS and will help ensure infants receive appropriate HIV care and ART if they need it,`` said Ms Cunningham.
Under regionalisation scheme, ICAP-CU work in all districts of Kagera, Kigoma and Coast Regions, Zanzibar as well as Ocean Road Cancer Institute and BMC. Todate, Ms Cunningham says, we have helped provide HIV care to over 20,000 people and life saving anti retroviral therapy to close to 10,000.
According to Ms Cunningham, by 2009 ICAP-CU is expected to support over 150 facilities with services to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child and over 60 facilities (including 53 primary health centres) for AIDS treatment.
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