Novel Pouch Could Reduce Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a condiment-sized pouch for enhancing the shelf-life of drugs like Nevirapine, an anti-HIV medication. An improvement over currently-used storage systems like syringes and containers, the pouch reduces evaporation loss while remaining potent at various temperatures. Ideal for preventing mother-to-child HIV infection, the pouch can be used in developing countries where HIV-positive mothers who give birth at home can immediately start protecting their newborns from the virus with a single dose of Nevirapine, and then follow up later at a clinic or hospital. Field tests using the pouch have been performed in Tanzania, and clinical trials are underway.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 90% of 430,000 new cases of AIDS in Africa in 2008 were attributable to mother-to-child transmission, and that just 32% of infants born to HIV-positive mothers received prophylactic antiretroviral drugs as compared to 45% of their pregnant mothers.
Duke press release: Novel Pouch Could Reduce Mother-to-Infant HIV Infection…