The theme of this year's AIDS conference (24th International AIDS Conference or AIDS 2022) is "re-engage and follow the science." Dr Michael Babu Raj said that, "I really feel that re-engaging and following the science is a very apt theme. It was true of COVID-19 also, because there were many scientific evidence-based strategies which we knew that could have prevented or reduced transmission of COVID-19, but still we failed to do that. Many things went wrong. In the context of a country like India, there are still some children who are born HIV positive, despite knowing how to prevent parent to child transmission of HIV. Eliminating parent to child transmission of HIV is still a challenge, even when we know what needs to be done. It is the responsibility of each one of us to achieve zero parent to child transmission of HIV because we know what is the science and we know how the transmission can be stopped. 95 percent of the children are born negative. Then why cannot the remaining 5 percent children also have an HIV-free birth?"
He added: "We have come a long way when it comes to HIV today. People are living healthy lives despite being infected. But one thing we need to build back in each one of us is that we should not stop believing in trust and hope. We should build our lives together and give hope and love to every child who may be infected with HIV or with any other disease. And we can certainly make a difference in their lives. That is what science teaches us- to do things that are simple. You follow the rules, you are safe, and you can move forward with confidence."
Disclosure that a child is living with HIV is never easy. "There are many children who still do not know about HIV and why have they got this infection as their parents have not disclosed it to them. Every child has the right to know what is the infection he or she has, and the right to take the treatment with knowledge and not with hiddenness. I think that we should take that message very strongly back from the conference that it is the right of everyone, including children, to know about their health status," said Dr Raj.
Dr Michael Babu Raj's strategy has been to build on the strength of the community and enable them to become catalysts of social and economic change.
He told CNS that at the centre where he works, out of the 63 children who are on antiretroviral therapy and went for viral load testing, 60 are virally suppressed, as of March 2022. Only three have viral load above 200. "Currently we are not facing any drug shortage. All the children are on antiretroviral therapy. Viral load testing is done at St John's Hospital which is a private facility. But since it is under public-private partnership...the guidelines are as per the government guidelines, and viral load testing is done free of cost."
This is tremendous achievement indeed. Let us hope that it becomes a reality at national and global levels too so that most of the people who are receiving lifesaving antiretroviral therapy, are virally suppressed.
Shobha Shukla - CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Shobha Shukla is the award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service) and is a feminist, health and development justice advocate. She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College and current Coordinator of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
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