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HIV cure in babies possible—researcher

Johns Hopkins Research Project country director Sufia Dadabhai says emerging opportunities can cure HIV.

She said this at Blantyre Youth Centre on Monday during Johns Hopkins Family Day held to celebrate the organisation’s 30 years of operations in Malawi.

“It’s amazing that in 2019 we can even be talking about curing HIV,” she said.

Badadhai in an aerobics activity during the family day

Dadabhai said they are conducting two paediatric HIV cure research works that are looking at ways babies born with the virus can have functional cure during their childhood instead of a lifetime treatment.

“We are identifying babies born with HIV, living with HIV. Sometimes in the first two days of life, sometimes three months of age, and treating them aggressively in those early days so as to eliminate the viral reservoir in the body which helps to achieve cure,” she said.

Johns Hopkins chief operating officer Dalitso Ngwalo said Johns Hopkins Family Day celebrates successes they have given to the public as a biomedical research organisation.

The family day was sponsored by Ecobank, Skylinks, National Bank of Malawi, TNM, Thofu Investments and Nico Life Insurance.

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