AZT trial results
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Source: sea-aids@bizet.inet.co.th
The long-awaited announcement by CDC on the effectiveness of the short-
course AZT treatment for preventing HIV transmission to the offspring
was issued on February 18, and the results are good.
According to the CDC, the less expensive short course being evaluated
in Thailand reduces the transmission by half. This is welcome news for
those who could not afford the more expensive treatment being used in
the United States and Europe, but have the same feelings of pain and
sorrow, when watching their infected children die of AIDS.
Each low-cost improvement in therapy, whether for treating infected in-
dividuals or for preventing mother-to-child transmission, offers new
hope for controlling the epidemic. What Thailand and other higher
prevalence countries will need to decide next, is how best to detect
HIV infection in pregnant women so that young children can benefit from
the knowledge. Is it ethical for a mother in Thailand to avoid testing
when doing so may endanger her child? Does the child have a right to
treatment, or do Thai mothers, if they so desire, have a greater right
to avoid testing?
These issues will need to be addressed soon, now that CDC has provided
another means for prevention.
Ralph R. Frerichs, D.V.M., Dr.P.H.
Professor and Chair Department of Epidemiology
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA
mailto:frerichs@ucla.edu
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