AIDS in corner of ravaged Africa

New hope on AIDS in corner of ravaged Africa
Progress in treating disease protects unborn children against infection
Dr Klaus Wiswedel from the Cape Fertility Clinic at the clinic in Cape Town, South Africa. The clinic is the first in Africa to open a dedicated laboratory for HIV positive patients, enabling them to conceive and give birth to an HIV-negative baby by using procedures such as in-vitro fertilization.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - In a sign of hope on a continent ravaged by AIDS, a South African fertility clinic has started a service allowing couples infected with the virus to have a healthy baby.

The Cape Fertility Clinic is the first in Africa to open a laboratory for HIV-positive patients, enabling them to conceive and give birth to HIV-negative babies by using procedures such as in-vitro fertilization.

"HIV is no longer seen as a death sentence but a chronic disease," says Klaus Wiswedel, one of the clinic's directors. "And people with chronic diseases are entitled to have fertility treatment. We can safely deliver an HIV negative child and, with the right treatment, the parent can live a long life."