Health department launches HIV awareness website

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana's health department has launched a website to educate health care professionals and patients on the importance of prenatal HIV testing as part of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

The website is www.1test2lives.org and it's part of the One Test Two Lives campaign.

Prenatal transmission is the most common route of HIV infection in children. More than 800 children in Indiana have been infected prenatally with HIV since the 1980s.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all pregnant women get HIV screenings as early as possible. State health officials say only 1 percent to 2 percent of pregnant women with HIV will transmit the virus to their unborn children if they receive appropriate intervention and therapy.

Transmission chances increase to 25 percent without proper treatment.