Alere Doubles Commitment To Organisation Of African FirstLadies Against HIV/AIDS

(RTTNews) - Alere (ALR) said that it doubled its commitment to the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) in its efforts to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa by eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and increasing early infant diagnosis or EID.

Since September 2014, Alere has donated 200,000 HIV/Syphilis Duo rapid tests to support OAFLA's efforts to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. Today, at a high-level event convened by OAFLA during the 70th UN General Assembly, Alere more than doubled its initial commitment to assist OAFLA and their partners reach an additional 500,000 pregnant women, infants, adolescents and other at-risk populations in Africa with screening and prevention services.

Globally, almost 1.5 million pregnant women are HIV infected. In sub-Saharan Africa, 260,000 African children are infected with HIV each year. Mother to Child Transmission (MTCT) occurs through pregnancy, labor, delivery and breast feeding. In fact, breast-feeding alone increases the risk of MTCT by 12%-43%.