Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV Infection a review

Abstract

Nigerian HIV/AIDS disease burden is the third-largest worldwide, behind India and South Africa, with estimated cumulative death of 1.5 million people, 2.86 million infected persons, and more than two million children orphaned. The high burden of the disease continues to constitute a major public health concern for the country. The epidemic has impacted all segments of society, but most especially women in their most productive and reproductive years. Over the years, an epidemic, once dominated by infected males, has become progressively feminized. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where about two-thirds of the global disease burden resides, 61% of adults living with HIV are women. In Nigeria, approximately 60% of adults living with HIV/AIDS are women. The increasing HIV prevalence among women also showed an increase in mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Until 2004, over 4.3 million children have succumbed to the AIDS epidemic worldwide and in 2004 an estimated 700,000 children under the age of 15 years became infected with HIV.