Kathmandu, August 15 :

Two pregnant women have tested positive following the launch of the HIV prevention programme — Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme — at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital five months ago.

About 1,500 pregnant women have undergone HIV tests in the five-month period at the hospital.

“The HIV/AIDS committee at the TUTH has been running counselling services for the benefit of babies and mothers,” said Dr Shashi Sharma, chairman of the committee.

Under the PMTCT, the pregnant women, who came for regular medical check-ups, were given counselling so that they could opt for HIV tests, Dr Sharma said.

The committee has administered anti-retroviral therapy on 50 needy patients this year. The free ART programme was launched in mid-February.

At present, 34 patients have been undergoing ARVT at the TUTH by paying fees. According to an estimate, around 15,000 people are in need of ARVT.

The TUTH had been providing ARVT to the needy since 1999, but the treatment costs are high. Till date, 60 patients have undergone ARVT.

If the cases reported at the NCASC are anything to go by, only 500 people will be in need of ARVT. The government has scaled up the ARVT programme in five centres — Nepalgunj, Teku, Pokhara, Dharan and Teaching hospital.