At least 60 pregnant women have tested HIV positive in 16 months at a government medical college in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, according to an India Today report. A health department official added that the situation is being monitored closely and that all affected women are being treated at the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Centre of Lala Lajpat Rai Medical College of Meerut.
The matter came to the notice of health officials following a report drafted by the ART Centre. The report revealed that HIV was confirmed in 81 women who were admitted to the hospital for delivery. Alarmingly, 35 out of these 81 HIV-positive women have given birth to children. The ART Centre’s nodal officer was quoted as saying by the publication that HIV tests of the newborns will be done once they complete one-and-a-half years and further measures will be taken after that.