Harvard University researchers have concluded that waiting for six months after birth to start nevirapine-based anti-retroviral therapy (ART) can prevent the development of drug resistance in HIV positive women who take single dose nevirapine during labour as a prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) measure.

The research, which began in 2001, was conducted with 218 Botswana women. Results showed only a 12% treatment failure rate of nevirapine-based treatment after a 6-month delay from childbirth. Of those taking the drug soon after giving birth, a higher treatment failure rate of 41% was recorded.

Previous research had shown a strong correlation between nevirapine resistance mutations in women receiving standard antiretroviral treatment after single-dose nevirapine treatment for the prevention of perinatal HIV transmission. This jeopardised the chances of success of nevirapine-based ART later in life. These new findings therefore represent good news for the African continent, as it is the region most affected by HIV. They should also give greater confidence to governments in the region to promote use of nevirapine at birth as it is still the only proven way that cuts the chances of transmission to babies by nearly 50 percent.

• How can journalists use this new information to educate communities on the importance of PMTCT measures?
  
• It follows that for a mother to receive PMTCT measures such as single dose nevirapine to protect her child, she must first know her own status. How can the media, particularly those that are community-based, use the awareness created by these recent nevirapine findings to educate their audiences about other prevention interventions such as VCT?
  
• It is all well and good for research to prove that single dose nevirapine is actually not a threat to a mother's health. However, this information will not bring relief to enough people, especially those who are already struggling to gain access to treatment. How can journalists use these new findings as a means of advocating for wider treatment access?
  
• There are some African countries that have since banned the use of nevirapine in PMTCT because of the resistance fears later on for mothers. What can the journalists do in such situations?
  
• •  Journalists should use these latest findings to create a wider understanding of PMTCT and treatment as a whole. They should make a noise in their coverage of the rights of women living with HIV to prevent their babies from being infected.

For more information, visit:

1. http://www.avert.org/motherchild.htm
2. http://www.aidsmeds.com/news/20020802clin004.html
3. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/01/11/waiting_to _ take_2d_dose_of_aids_drug_may_be_key_step/