The first two decades of infection by the human immunodeficiency virus was dire for humanity. Then, testing positive to HIV was virtually a death sentence that the infected person had to face sooner than later.
Researches were done at frenetic pace because of the bitter truth that HIV knows no borders; and that a single person can actually infect as many people as s/he comes into sexual contact with.
Then, to be HIV-positive and pregnant was double whammy — the foetus stood a huge risk of being infected by its mother while in the womb or at birth. And where he managed to escape infection through those two avenues, being breastfed by an infected mother was surely enough to make the newborn HIV-positive.
A statistics released by Avert, United Kingdom-based HIV/AIDS charity which works to avert HIV/AIDS worldwide through education, treatment and care, states that “Each year, around 1.5 million women living with HIV become pregnant; without antiretroviral drugs, there is a 15-45 per cent chance that their child will also become infected.”
However, Avert says, among mothers that take a regimen of ARVs for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, the risk of HIV transmission can be reduced to less than five percent.
Mother-to-child transmission of HIV
Mother-to-child transmission of HIV is a concern, because in 2011 alone, around 330,000 children under the age of 15 became infected with HIV, while an estimated 230,000 died from AIDS.
“Almost all of these infections were as a result of mother-to-child transmission and among children living in sub-Saharan Africa,” Avert advises.
The world has since moved from prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV to elimination of mother-to-child transmission of the virus.
Towards this end, In June 2011, world leaders — among who was President Goodluck Jonathan — launched the “Global Plan towards the Elimination of New HIV Infections among Children by 2015 and Keeping their Mothers Alive.”
The aim is to reduce by 90 per cent the number of new infections among children and to reduce AIDS-related maternal deaths by 50 per cent.
The 2013 UNAIDS progress report on the Global Plan shows that as at the end of 2012, Nigeria accounted for 30 per cent of new infections in the 21 priority countries in sub-Saharan Africa; while in 2012, there were 60,000 new HIV infections among children.
UNAIDS states, “Achieving the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (eMTCT) is inextricably linked with and directly contributes to the Millennium Development Goals three (gender equality), four (reducing child mortality), five (improving maternal health) and six (combating HIV/AIDS).
“This positions eMTCT as an important part of the maternal and child health and the overall development agenda,” UNAIDS states.
In order to achieve this locally, in 2013, the Federal Government launched the President’s Comprehensive Response Plan for HIV/AIDS; and just last week, it followed up with the National eMTCT Plan 2015-2016
In a speech read on his behalf by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, President Jonathan notes that more than half of the people living with HIV are women and people within the productive age group.
Jonathan states, “Through a multi-sectoral approach, Nigeria has successfully reduced the prevalence of HIV among pregnant women from a high of 5.8 per cent in 2001 to 4.1 per cent in 2010. The prevalence of HIV in the general population was 3.4 per cent in 2012.”
In his speech, the Director-General of National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Prof. John Idoko laments, “Nigeria has made slow progress in the a Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS, with 30 per cent coverage by 2013 due to a number of structural challenges, including inadequate services at Primary Health Care level, poor attendance of pregnant women at antenatal services, and many women preferring to go to traditional birth attendants, churches and mosques to access antenatal and delivery services.
“The unfortunate implication of this is the high birth of HIV-positive babies in Nigeria which, according to the United Nations, accounts for over 25 per cent of the global burden of HIV-positive births. Without treatment, 20 per cent of these children will die before their first birthday and 80 per cent will not live to see their fifth birthday. This is unacceptable to the government of Nigeria which recognises that the lives of all mothers and their babies can be saved through a combination of HIV testing and counselling, access to effective antiretroviral prophylaxis and treatment, safer delivery practices, family planning, and safe breast feeding practices.”
The general consensus is that henceforth, no Nigerian child should be born with HIV.
The President declares, “Together, we shall end the AIDS epidemic among children. I therefore launch and present to you the eMTCT 2015-2016.”
A living example
Thirty-seven-year-old Mrs. Stella Ebelu became HIV-positive through unsafe blood transmission in 1994. Her husband and five children comprising three boys and two girls are HIV-negative. How was the family able to achieve this feat?
Ebelu proffers, “I declared my HIV status right from the beginning and my then fiancé wasn’t bothered about it.
“I took responsibility for my health by accessing antiretroviral drugs. And when I became pregnant, I enrolled for antenatal care at Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja. I did not miss my antenatal clinic days.
“And because I was taking my drugs and kept to good diet and nutrition, my viral load really came down and I was able to deliver my children vaginally, rather than through the caesarean section.
“Again, I breastfed them each for six months, without giving them water, herbal drinks or baby formula. Being HIV-positive is not the end of life. I counsel women, especially pregnant women, to take their drugs and to use standard hospitals during antenatal in order to have HIV-negative baby. There are mentoring mothers, counsellors and treatment support specialists in our hospitals nationwide to help you cope with your status and pregnancy.
Help your unborn baby
In order to eliminate possible infection of your baby with HIV, the UNAIDS advocates certain key strategies:
Keeping women of reproductive age and their partners HIV-negative through reproductive health and HIV prevention services.
Avoiding unwanted pregnancies among HIV-infected women and women at risk of HIV, through family planning and HIV testing and counselling services.
Ensuring HIV testing of pregnant women and timely access to effective antiretroviral therapy, both for the health of HIV-infected mothers and for PMTCT, during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding.
Better integration of HIV care, treatment and support for HIV-infected women and their families.
Pregnant women must undergo effective voluntary HIV testing and counselling
HIV-positive mothers must have access to antiretroviral therapy and safe delivery practices
There must be widespread availability and safe use of breast milk substitutes
The World Health Organisation says globally, since 1995, more than 350,000 children have avoided HIV infection due to these simple interventions.
No comments:
Post a Comment