Ethiopia: Scale up of early rural infant diagnosis successful

Establishing and scaling up early infant HIV diagnosis (EID) programmes is feasible in even the most remote parts of Ethiopia, reported Berhanu Gudetta and colleagues in a study at the HIV Implementers’ Meeting, held in Windhoek, Namibia in early June. Renovation of two regional laboratories making DNA PCR testing possible, coupled with the successful use of dried blood spot testing (sometimes referred to as DBS), increased the numbers of infants receiving early diagnosis and consequently improved early initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for infants aged nought to 18 months.