I-TECH and Partners Build Capacity for Early Infant Diagnosis
By supporting health care workers and upgrading laboratories, I-TECH Ethiopia and partners are improving the lives of infants, children, and their families.
Dr. Wubshet Mamo and a laboratory specialist perform extraction of DNA from dried blood samples at the upgraded Bahir-Dar regional laboratory.
Ethiopia has an estimated 106,000 HIV-positive pregnancies and 30,000 HIV-positive births each year. In the past, few tests were done to determine whether infants were exposed to the virus. It was one of the most challenging aspects of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. With improved capacity for testing mothers and infants, however, that has begun to change. Infants and children infected with HIV can now be more quickly identified and linked to care and treatment.
I-TECH Ethiopia has been working in three regions, Amhara, Tigray, and Afar, on activities aimed at preventing HIV infection and improving HIV diagnosis, care, and treatment. In collaboration with the regional health bureaus, the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI), and other partners, I-TECH is strengthening the capacity of health care workers to identify HIV-infected infants and children early and link them to life-saving care and treatment.
Testing infants for HIV requires special consideration. Infants born to HIV-infected mothers acquire HIV antibodies while still in the womb, and they will test positive for the HIV antibody during the first months of life even if they are not infected. For this reason, specialized virologic tests, such as the polymerase chain reaction (DNA-PCR) test, are the only reliable means of detecting the HIV infection status of infants.
PCR testing using dried blood spot samples (which don’t have to be refrigerated and are easier to prepare, store, and transport), contributes significantly to improved early detection. To harness these diagnostic technologies, I-TECH has upgraded regional health facilities and trained laboratory technicians. Now, instead of shipping samples to a central location, regional facilities can process them quickly and accurately. As a result, the three regions have nearly doubled the number of infants tested for HIV within 1 year.
In Ethiopia, more accurate and timely HIV diagnosis of infants and strengthened laboratory capacity, together with prompt pediatric HIV care and treatment, are helping to improve the lives of infants, children, and their families. I-TECH is pleased to support local partners as they work toward these goals.
