PRESS RELEASES
U.S., Zambia Unite to Scale up HIV/AIDS Treatment for Children
August 02, 2007. Ndola
Ndola, Zambia -- The U.S. Ambassador to Zambia, Carmen Martinez, and the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Lwipa Puma, opened a renovated AIDS treatment clinic and an HIV-diagnosis laboratory at Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital today. The new tools and treatment facilities, born out of U.S. and Zambia partnership, will largely benefit infants exposed to HIV infection throughout the Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern, and North-Western Provinces.
All programs for pediatric HIV prevention, care, and treatment in Zambia are carried out under the auspices of the Government of Zambia’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and the Ministry of Health plays a key role in the implementation of the activities.
About 9,600 children are on antiretroviral therapy nationwide, but the Government of Zambia estimates there are 42,000 children in need of treatment.
To scale up health care services for children, the Zambia Prevention, Care, and Treatment Partnership (ZPCT), working with the governments of Zambia and the United States, set up a laboratory at Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital to enable children less than 18 months to be tested for HIV using transportable dried blood spots. The use of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology at the laboratory is expected to increase the number of infant HIV diagnoses, and enable more HIV-positive children to be placed on treatment.
The PCR laboratory in Ndola is the third to be set up in the country, following two other fully operational units in Lusaka. All three laboratories are funded through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and receive technical support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative.
Since 2004, the U.S. Government has provided Zambia with more than $330 million to fight HIV/AIDS, and, in 2007, will offer an additional $216 million to tackle the disease.
In her remarks, Ambassador Martinez said, “By opening the doors to a new antiretroviral therapy clinic and laboratory at Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital, we are telling the world that children no longer are the missing faces of this epidemic.”
Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Puma added, “Early infant diagnosis has now become a priority of the Ministry of Health because it enables us to provide care for the infected infants at a time when they need it most.”
The Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital is now equipped to provide a full continuum of health care services for children, including a family-friendly environment for children and adults receiving counseling, testing, and treatment.
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