Maternity benefit scheme for positives

To encourage institutional delivery among HIV positive women, the West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society will launch a maternity benefit scheme from December 1 to prevent the transmission of the virus from the parent to the child .

To encourage institutional delivery among HIV positive women, the West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society WBSAPCS will launch a maternity benefit scheme from December 1 to prevent the transmission of the virus from the parent to the child .

8220;We will introduce a new scheme 8212; Jagrity, under which we will conduct the delivery of HIV positive mothers in such a way that the children do not get affected by the virus,8221; said state Health Minister Surjya Kanta Mishra.

The state Health Department under WBSAPCS already runs a Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission PPTCT programme at government institutions and sub-divisional hospitals, under which financial help of Rs 500 is provided to HIV positive mothers. This programme, however, covers only antenatal checkups and screening for HIV antibody reactivity of HIV positive mothers.

Under the Jagrity scheme, the Health Department will place HIV positive mothers under antiretroviral ARV chemoprophylaxis to prevent the transmission of the virus to their newborns.

The WBSAPCS will provide a one-time payment of Rs 1,000 to HIV positive pregnant women for delivering in any state-run hospital. The scheme willnbsp;extend to all HIV positive mothers irrespective of their economic status.

Under the scheme, PPTCT counsellors will issue a Jagrity card to an HIV positive pregnant woman that will contain details like checkup dates, due date of the delivery along with the name of hospital where the delivery will take place.

The scheme will facilitate HIV positive women to avail free medical tests like CT Scan, MRI and Ultrasonography in government-run hospitals.

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The HIV positive mothers admitted to government hospitals will also be provided with free medicines.

8220;From December 1, the Central government under National AIDS Control Organisation will implement a new scheme to provide a second line of drug treatment to HIV positive women,8221; said Mishra.

8220;We will also open an antiretroviral treatment facility at the RG Kar Hospital and the Malda Medical College soon,8221; the minister added.

To strengthen the Buladi AIDS awareness campaign, the government will now cover all the blocks of 10 districts of West Bengal.

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8220;Five buses will be provided to Health Department teams and other government officials to conduct the campaign in 10 districts of the state,8221; said the health minister.

While the state Health Department pegs the number of HIV positive mothers in West Bengal to be 496, the ARV-registered figure of HIV-positive mothers is 9,627 in the state.