April 14, 2009

Nevada Ends Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission Program

Nevada’s Department of Health and Human Services eliminated its mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention program because of an expected $1.2 million funding deficit to HIV/AIDS related programs in the next year, The Associated Press reports.

“It’s not my daughter’s fault or any other kid’s fault when they’re brought into this world by parents who are screwed up,” says HIV-positive client Adriana Zier, whose daughter, Yordanny, has been receiving treatment through the program. “I can’t imagine how a program that can give innocent children a chance at a normal life can be killed.”

According to the article, the University of Nevada School of Medicine’s $350,000-a-year Nevada Care Program offered antiretroviral drug therapy to HIV-positive expectant mothers and their newborns in an effort to prevent transmission of the virus. Since the program began in 2006, 40 infants have been born to HIV-positive mothers in Clark County, Nevada—none of which has tested positive.

David Gremse, MD, head of the school’s pediatric program, recently asked U.S. Representative Shelly Berkley (D–Nevada) for help in finding funds to continue the program. He believes that keeping the Nevada Care Program would save the state more money than ending it.

Search: Nevada, mother-to-child, Nevada Care Program, infants, Shelly Berkley, David Gremse

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nvhorseman, Reno, NV., 2009-04-16 11:38:13
This is typical of Nevada where I have lived for 35 years. The state government is a combination of corruption and cronyism. They have no problem giving away taxpayer money to large corporations as Tax Credits for unproven energy production, or funding tax subsidies for monopoly private utility companies but can't seem to see the need for essential public services for those who form the base of our employment pool, the public taxpayer. This is a state of myopic, short term memory government.

Mark, Los Angeles, 2009-04-16 11:06:15
This is more proof that AIDS is a diseasae that people don't care about and the stigma still exists that someone who has it somehow deserves what happens to them. The Governor, Jim Gibbons is a Republican and the Republicans are notorious for cutting funding for anything to do with HIV. If Reagan hadn't been such a homophobe and had done something at the beginning of the health crisis maybe we wouldn't have lost so many people to the virus.

positive, missouri, 2009-04-16 09:48:49
More uneducated political stupidity. If a pregnant woman is on HIV meds the baby has a 95% chance of being born without HIV. I guess some idiot thinks it is cheaper to have the child in the medicaid system for 20 years as well as the mother. Stupid , Stupid , Stupid. Isn't it cheaper to treat one than two? What are these people thinking???