January 21, 2010 An estimated 430,000 children worldwide became
infected with HIV in 2008, mostly through birth or breastfeeding
from an HIV-infected mother. Many regions of the world are
gaining increased access to complex antiretroviral drug regimens
for preventing HIV transmission from a mother to her child.
However, these strategies have not yet been directly compared
with simpler antiretroviral drug regimens in terms of their
safety, efficacy, feasibility and cost-effectiveness. On January
15, a large, multinational clinical trial began to determine how
best to reduce the risk of HIV transmission from infected
pregnant women to their babies during pregnancy and
breastfeeding while preserving the health of these children and
their mothers. The PROMISE (“Promoting Maternal-Infant Survival
Everywhere”) study aims to enroll 7,950 HIV-infected women who
are pregnant or have recently given birth and 5,950 HIV-exposed
infants of these women. The participants will come from as many
as 18 countries whose levels o