Pregnant Women Urged to Have Test for HIV
By, Samantha Clarke, Coventry Evening Telegraph, June 5, 2007
HEALTH chiefs in Coventry today called for every pregnant woman in the city to book an appointment for an HIV test.
The call comes amid shock revelations that 17 children in the city have been born with the disease because their mothers had not taken advantage of routine tests during pregnancy.
As reported in yesterday's Telegraph Coventry's director of public health revealed babies were contracting the disease from their mothers.
It was revealed many of the babies could have been saved from the disease if the routine tests had taken place.
Coventry Teaching Primary Care Trust spokesman Simon Dudman urged women to take up the tests, stressing their importance in preventing illness.
He said: "Screening for HIV is offered to all pregnant women unless they choose to opt out and it is vitally important that screening for HIV and other conditions is done as early in pregnancy as possible so that appropriate treatment and support can beoffered if needed.
"If a mother-to-be is found to be HIV positive then interventions and treatments can reduce the risk of mother-to-baby transmission and support from specialist services can be offered."
The 17 youngsters have all been diagnosed with HIV since 1990.
Health bosses say a large part of the problem is that their mothers are too scared to take the test.
The 17 are among a total of 568 people in the city living with the disease which can ultimately develop into Aids.
(c) 2007 Coventry Evening Telegraph. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/956874/pregnant_women_urged_to_have_test_for_hiv/index.html?source=r_health
HEALTH chiefs in Coventry today called for every pregnant woman in the city to book an appointment for an HIV test.
The call comes amid shock revelations that 17 children in the city have been born with the disease because their mothers had not taken advantage of routine tests during pregnancy.
As reported in yesterday's Telegraph Coventry's director of public health revealed babies were contracting the disease from their mothers.
It was revealed many of the babies could have been saved from the disease if the routine tests had taken place.
Coventry Teaching Primary Care Trust spokesman Simon Dudman urged women to take up the tests, stressing their importance in preventing illness.
He said: "Screening for HIV is offered to all pregnant women unless they choose to opt out and it is vitally important that screening for HIV and other conditions is done as early in pregnancy as possible so that appropriate treatment and support can beoffered if needed.
"If a mother-to-be is found to be HIV positive then interventions and treatments can reduce the risk of mother-to-baby transmission and support from specialist services can be offered."
The 17 youngsters have all been diagnosed with HIV since 1990.
Health bosses say a large part of the problem is that their mothers are too scared to take the test.
The 17 are among a total of 568 people in the city living with the disease which can ultimately develop into Aids.
(c) 2007 Coventry Evening Telegraph. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/956874/pregnant_women_urged_to_have_test_for_hiv/index.html?source=r_health
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 10:32 am
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