Wadia hospital starts Paediatric ART Center for children with HIV

In the month of September in order to bring an end to the HIV epidemic Mumbaibased Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children started aPaediatric ART Center for treating children with HIV The hospital came up with the unique publicprivate partnership PPP model of Paediatric ART center in association with NACO which was inaugurated by Dr Srikala Acharya of Mumbai District AIDS Control SocietyAlso ReadWadia hospital gets Rs 10 lakh in 24 hours for Baby Tigers treatmentHuman Immunodeficiency Virus which is also popularly known as HIV is a virus that tends to breaks down certain cells in ones immune system your bodys defense against diseases that helps you stay healthy The causes of HIV can be attributed to blood transfusion sexual abuse and also there is a possibility that children can acquire HIV from their parents Due to the lack of treatment and awareness of HIV a person suffering from HIV is likely to suffer from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome AIDS At present there is no cure for HIV but with the help of antiretroviral therapy it can be wellmanagedDr Ira Shah a leading pediatric infectious diseases specialist who has been looking after HIV infected children since 2001 will be heading the Paediatric ART center started by Wadia hospital While speaking at the launch Dr Ira said With the establishment of the Paediatric ART center at B J Wadia Hospital for Children in Mumbai children with HIV can get a holistic pediatric treatment under one roof with the help of a team of experts Earlier around 15percent infants in Mumbai would get HIV from their mother But now the percentage is lesser than thatEvery year Wadia Hospital sees several newly diagnosed HIV pediatric patients every month In addition it sees follow up patients in the oldest Pediatric HIV OPD in the city of Mumbai at Wadia Children Hospital She further added At the moment the number of kids with HIV has decreased due to preventive program But there are still a lot of children who are undiagnosedDr Ira highlights Hence pediatric patients with HIV and associated infections will get free HIV medicine as well as complete Paediatric services for managing opportunistic infections and its comorbidities as Wadia hospital has all the facilities related to pediatric careAlso ReadWadia hospital opens first Outreach OPD in Nashik for children with congenital heart diseaseDr Minnie Bodhanwala CEO Wadia Hospitals said The Paediatric and Perinatal HIV clinic at B J Wadia Hospital for Children is the first pediatric HIV service in the city of Mumbai that was started in 1996 Till date the clinic has treated more than 900 HIV infected children and has prevented HIV in over 1400 babies born to HIV infected mothers With the help of NACO and MDAC now free ART will be available to all HIV infected children as part of PPP Paediatric ART center at B J Wadia Hospital for ChildrenShe further said Even before prevention of parent to child transmission PPTCT of HIV was available in the country Wadia Hospital for children was offering the PPTCT programme and had brought down the transmission rate from 40 percent to lt2 percent in these patients Constant research in the field of HIV from this institute has helped in various guidelines and updates in the field of HIVCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates