Ameena Goga
Ameena Goga is a researcher at the South African Medical Research Council, and a paediatrician within the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Pretoria. She has a Masters degree in Mother and Child Health, a Masters degree in Epidemiology, a Certificate in Integrative Medicine, a PhD in Paediatrics, a Certificate in Paediatric Pulmonology and an MPhil in Paediatric Pulmonology. Between 2001 and 2005 she worked at the National Department of Health in policy and programmes. Her research focuses on eliminating vertical transmission of HIV, making breastfeeding safer for women living with HIV and improving mother and child health in the context of HIV.
Eliminating vertical transmission of HIV: This last mile needs more than Antiretroviral Therapy
Worldwide 36.9 million people are living with HIV. Of these, 1.8 million are children. In this blog we look back across a new supplement recently published in BMC Infectious Diseases. Investigating how the landscape of HIV transmission has changed and how, if HIV is to be eliminated, treatment cannot rely wholly on the intervention of Antiretroviral Therapy.
© Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Africa Public Affairs
I remember 1994: South Africa became a democracy and the entire nation, regardless of race, color, religion, or creed went to the polls. At this time, pediatric HIV infection was an emerging and growing public health problem. At a meeting held in Ghent, Belgium, in 1992, principal investigators of 14 studies reported that vertical HIV transmission (MTCT) ranged from 13 – 32% in developed countries and from 26 – 48% in resource limited settings. By 1995 although intrauterine MTCT had been described as early as 12 weeks gestation, most data demonstrated that the majority of intrauterine MTCT occurred during the last two months of pregnancy. Initial data quantified the risk of postnatal MTCT as being highest in the first few months post-delivery and reducing thereafter. Soon these results were superseded by a meta-analysis which reported, for the first time, a constant risk of postnatal MTCT during breastfeeding.
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