Mom-child HIV transmission negligible: AIDS society

Panaji: Mother to child transmission of HIV in Goa has been negligible for the past two years, said Dr Vandana Dhume, director of the Goa AIDS Control Society during a World AIDS Day programme.The state has also made significant progress in meeting national AIDS control targets while seeing declining HIV cases.“Children born to an HIV couple can be negative today. If an HIV positive couple adheres to the life long treatment they can go ahead for pregnancy. We give them medicines at the ART centres and the new born is given medication right from birth and children can be born HIV negative,” Dhume said.“Anyone who is detected HIV positive needn’t take tension. The person must go to govt ART centres, take lifelong treatment and lead a good quality of life,” she added.Goa has achieved 99% of people knowing their HIV status, 82.4% of diagnosed cases on sustained ART, and 98% viral load suppression among treated patients. These figures reflect progress toward the national programme’s 95-95-95 targets set for 2025.The state reported 237 new HIV cases this year, with 98% patients starting treatment. The trend shows declining cases over the past three years.HIV-positive individuals are being trained to encourage others to get screened and maintain regular treatment. The programme has launched awareness vans for North and South Goa, along with a mascot named Shanu and a 1097 helpline.Health secretary Yetindra Maralkar said, “Although testing numbers have increased, our positivity rate has remained stable. In this scenario continuous vigilance is needed to address high-risk pockets and ensure uninterrupted treatment and prevention.”Goa has established itself as a low-prevalence HIV state in India, demonstrating strong commitment to prevention, testing and treatment initiatives.The Goa AIDS Control Society is also maintaining presence across social media platforms to increase awareness and reach.