No cases of mother-to-child HIV transmission have been recorded in the city of Almatı, Kazakistan over the past one and a half years. According to a statement from the City Public Health Directorate, this successful outcome was achieved through early diagnosis of the infection, timely initiation of treatment, and continuous medical monitoring of pregnant women and newborns. Authorities state that these data demonstrate how effectively health policies are being implemented in the city. Director of the Almatı AIDS Prevention and Control Center, Marat Tukeev, emphasizes that HIV-positive women can give birth to healthy children with appropriate medical interventions. This development paints a promising picture for mothers living with HIV.
According to Tukeev, the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of HIV infection are included in the free healthcare services guaranteed by the state in Kazakistan. Every pregnant woman in the country undergoes HIV testing twice, allowing for the detection of the infection at an early stage. Following early diagnosis, the treatment process is initiated immediately, thereby significantly reducing the risk of mother-to-child transmission. This systemic approach plays a critical role in protecting the health of both the mother and the baby. Authorities state that patients do not bear the cost of any of these services, and they are provided completely free of charge.
Following diagnosis, pregnant women are provided with free antiretroviral therapy. Thanks to modern medications, it becomes possible to reduce the viral load in the mother to undetectable levels. Thanks to this medical success, the risk of the infection being transmitted to the baby drops to a minimal level of between 0 and 2 percent. After the baby is born, preventive treatment is administered within the first hours, followed by regular examinations by specialists. If all test results continue to be negative until the child is 18 months old, the baby is considered healthy and removed from the medical follow-up file.
Health teams in Almatı are not limited to medical treatment alone but also activate social support mechanisms. During the first year of the baby's life, families receive free baby formula support through primary healthcare institutions. This practice ensures that the baby's nutritional needs are safely met, especially in cases where the mother should not breastfeed. Experts believe that such additional support alleviates the psychological and economic burden on families. Thus, a comprehensive safety net is created for HIV-positive mothers to have a healthy pregnancy and childbirth process.
Currently, 100 percent of pregnant women and newborns in Almatı are included in preventive programs. Additionally, since 2020, the sexual partners of pregnant women have also been subjected to HIV testing; this allows intra-family transmission risks to be detected early. Physicians confirm that if women follow doctors' recommendations, they can have a healthy pregnancy and give birth to healthy babies even if they are HIV-positive. Despite this local success story, the global picture is still fraught with significant challenges: Globally, approximately 1.5 million children are living with HIV, and roughly 130,000 babies are born with this virus or become infected during infancy each year.
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