Bangladesh has achieved approximately 96 percent success in delivering HIV-negative babies born to mothers with AIDS through the implementation of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) program.

"The success rate for HIV-infected mothers giving birth to healthy babies is around 96 percent. We have been implementing the PMTCT program to ensure the delivery of HIV-free babies by HIV-positive mothers," said Md. Akhtaruzzaman, Senior Manager of the AIDS/STD Programme at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), in an interview with the Daily Sun.

Health ministry sources informed that 11 Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) centers have been established across the country, including in Dhaka, to implement the PMTCT program. However, three of these centers are temporarily suspended at the moment, having been non-operational for the past few months.

Under the PMTCT program, the government offers free treatment to HIV-positive mothers at ART centers nationwide. The AIDS/STD Programme (ASP) of the DGHS has been administering the program since 2013.

The DGHS data suggest a total of 238 HIV positive mothers who took treatment at the ART centres from 2013 to 2022 gave birth to 224 HIV negative babies and only 14 babies of them were tested HIV positive. “The average success rate is around 96 percent and the rest of the babies were positive as their mothers delayed taking treatment,” Md. Akhtaruzzaman added.

The health directorate said 74,491 pregnant mothers came to test HIV under the PMTCT programme in the country while 22 new HIV positive pregnant mothers were detected at the ART centres in 2022. The same year, 25 babies were delivered by the HIV positive mothers and only one was detected with HIV.

“My baby boy is now around 2 years and 9 months. He tested HIV negative after birth and he is now healthy,” Salma Khatun (pseudonym) of Bogura district who is undergoing HIV positive treatment under the ART centre set up in BSMMU told the Daily Sun. Sabrina Akhter, Counselor cum Administrator at the ART centre of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU)said suspected men and women AIDS patients come to the centre to test the HIV at free of cost regularly and they also get registered to receive treatment if tested positive.

Describing treatment process of the HIV positive women, Prof Dr. Begum Nasrin, chairman of Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the BSMMU said the HIV positive pregnant women are given triple antiretroviral (ARV) drug.

She further said the pregnant women must be brought under the ARV drug immediately after being tested positive. “Viral load of the positive pregnant women also will have to be carried after six months of taking the drug to ensure proper care.”

Dr. Begum Nasrin explained that after the birth of babies whose parents are HIV-positive, the baby must be tested to diagnose whether the baby is also HIV-positive or not.

"After the HIV-infected mother gives birth, the baby must be given Nevirapine syrup for six weeks. Later, at six weeks old, the baby undergoes a PCR test to detect the HIV infection status," she said.

Dr. Nasrin added that after six weeks, if the baby tests positive, they will be given ARV drugs. "Then, at 18 months old, the baby will have to be tested for antibodies to determine the appropriate treatment for HIV," she added.

Dr. Md. Mahafuzer Rahman Sarker, Line Director (TB-L & ASP) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), stated to the Daily Sun that the government plans to expand the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) program by increasing the number of ART centers in more hospitals to ensure the birth of healthy children from HIV-positive mothers.

According to DGHS data, the first HIV case was detected in Bangladesh in 1989, and the prevalence of HIV remains less than 0.01 percent among the general population.

As of 2022, an estimated 14,513 people in Bangladesh are living with HIV, with 947 new cases and 232 deaths reported.

The PMTCT program was initially launched at five hospitals in 2013, and since then, the number of centers has increased to 11 across the country.

ART centers are located at BSMMU, Sir Salimullah Medical College (Mitford) Hospital, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Cox's Bazar District Sadar Hospital, Khulna Medical College Hospital, Moulvibazar Sadar Hospital, Jashore Sadar Hospital, 250 Bed General Hospital Anderkilla Chittagong, City Corporation General Hospital Chittagong, and Sylhet Shahid Shamsuddin Ahmed District Hospital.

Currently, the ART centers at City Corporation General Hospital Chittagong, 250 Bed General Hospital Anderkilla Chittagong, and Sylhet Shahid Shamsuddin Ahmed District Hospital remain non-operational.