COTE D IVOIRE: Mother-to-child HIV/AIDS rates drop

JOHANNESBURG, 12 Nov 2003 (PLUSNEWS) - The rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS in Cote d'Ivoire has been significantly reduced from 30 percent to 14 percent over the last four years, the country's National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) has said.

The NACP technical adviser, Auguste Bouazo, said the positive results, obtained from 22 pilot sites over a period of six years, confirmed the relevance of the mother-to-child transmission programme.

Bouazo was quoted by the Pan African News Agency (PANA) as saying: "The mother-to-child transmission programme, initiated in 1998, has produced encouraging results in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Cote d'Ivoire."

Following the reaffirmed support of the project by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Bouazo said it was imperative that the project went national.

With an estimated prevalence rate of over 10 percent, Cote d'Ivoire is thought to be the most HIV/AIDS stricken country in the West Africa region.

[ENDS]