ALBANY – The number of babies born with HIV in New York state dropped an amazing 78 percent between 1997 and 2002, Gov. Pataki said yesterday.
The Department of Health study showed that in 2002, only 2.4 percent of infants born to women with HIV were infected, compared with 10.9 percent in 1997.
Pataki credited a 1996 law that added HIV to the state’s newborn-screening program.
The state also now requires that test results of newborns be made available within 12 hours – as opposed to the old 48-hour standard.