Arusha. Thirty four per cent of expectant and lactating mothers
living with HIV/AIDS in Arusha do not continue with the Prevention of
Mothers To Child Treatment (PMTCT) programme, it has been reported.
Reports have it that traditional values have
compelled them to recourse to traditional clinics where midwives are
older than those found in Reproductive and Child Health (RCH)
facilities.
“Most of the stray expectant and lactating mothers
liken midwives and nurses they come across at RCH clinics to their own
daughters,” Dr Frida Mokiti, the Arusha regional medical officer, says.
The regional health management team is in
collaboration with Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF)
sensitising traditional leaders to ensure expectant and lactating
mothers are retained and adhere to integrated HIV services, she says.
EGPAF, one of the implementing partners of the US
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), is supporting RCH
and PMTCT services in seven other regions of Geita, Kilimanjarro, Lindi,
Mtwara, Shinyanga, Simiyu and Tabora.
The foundation has jointly with the regional
health management team trained 526 healthcare workers in providing
quality PMTCT services by December, Dr Jeroen Van’t Pad Bosch, EGPAF
country director, says.
“Moreover, 242 sites in Arusha, equivalent to 97
per cent, provide PMTCT services to pregnant women at RCH clinics in the
region,” says the EGPAF country director.
He adds that 297,900 expectant mothers had access
to the services and that 7,443 of them were found to be HIV positive
before they were put on interventions to prevent mother to child
transmission of the deadly virus.
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