300 HIV Positive Women Deliver Uninfected Babies

Superintendent in-charge of the Medical Centre, Mararaba, Nasarawa State, Dr Angel-la Smart, said in Abuja yesterday that 300 HIV positive expectant mothers accessing prevention from mother to child treatment (PMTCT) at the centre gave birth to uninfected babies last year.

Smart said that the centre was happy at the development, which she described as a success story.

She said during ante-natal clinics, the mothers were counseled on the need to establish their HIV status to enable them to have uninfected babies.

‘You counsel them so at the end of the day every woman goes for the ante-natal because she knows that once she does this, her baby would not be infected if she follows the rules and regulations given to her, she said.”

Smart said the centre usually encouraged women to register at the ante-natal clinic as soon they became pregnant in order to detect any problem.

In 2009, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS focused on the prevention of new HIV infections. Its major area of emphasis was mother-to-child HIV transmission, which reportedly accounted for a large percentage of the cases.

Smart called on the Federal Government to assist state governments in the employment of health workers as most state hospitals were under-staffed.

She said this had become necessary as most state governments could not employ adequate health personnel.