DIAVINA

In Subsaharan Africa, particularly in Guinea, many children are being born from mothers who have not yet been tested for HIV during their pregnancy, and therefore, have not received ARV drugs to prevent the transmission of the virus from mother to child. Recent studies show that there is a benefit to diagnosing the infection at birth to quickly identify children infected in utero and then start ARV treatment early, in the first few days, to reduce deaths and illnesses linked to HIV. In the absence of treatment, 50% of infants infected during the perinatal period (in the womb or at birth) die within the first year. The peak in deaths connected to HIV in these children is around the age of 2-3 months, leaving a very small window of opportunity to detect and treat them.

Objective

Evaluate a strategy combining the diagnosis of HIV infections and systematic treatment with ARVs from birth in children exposed to the virus where the mother has not been treated throughout pregnancy. In most cases the mother will not have been screened for HIV before pregnancy.

Activities

• Operational research study
• Development of research protocol
• Setting up of a cohort of mother and child couples in two treatment sites (300 infants exposed to HIV by a mother not treated with ARVs during pregnancy or who have not been treated for more than a month)

We are looking for financial contributions Solthis have received the support of ANRS and the “Mairie de Paris” for this operational research project. The Guinean insurance subsidiary of “Saham Assurance” also contributes to its support. However, we do need more financial support for this project, and anyone can support this project, which will allow us to protect infants exposed to HIV/AIDS in Guinea.