U.N. reports progress preventing spread of HIV to newborns

Clinic waiting room
Pregnant women wait for pre-natal care at a clinic in Malakal in southern Sudan. The women will also have the option to take an HIV test. If the test is positive, they'll receive medication for themselves and their newborns to help prevent transmission of the virus.
Photo Courtesy of Katie Anfinson, American Refugee Committee

Tuesday is World AIDS Day and All Things Considered talked with a Minnesotan who is just back from the front lines of the AIDS crisis.

Around the world, an estimated 33 million people have HIV or AIDS. About 2 million of those are children. The United Nations AIDS Program reports 2 million people died from the disease last year.

But, among the bright spots in the fight against AIDS is that the U.N. now reports "good progress" in preventing the transmission of HIV from mothers to children.

Katie Anfinson has been working on ways to do just that. She is the Reproductive Health Coordinator for the Minnesota-based American Refugee Committee and she is just back from a visit to new clinic in Sudan that serves pregnant women who are HIV-positive.

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