HIV/AIDS: Mentor Mothers Task RSG On Facilities

Women under the aegis of “Mentor Mothers” have called on the Rivers State Government to provide necessary facilities and equipment to enable them enhance access to Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) services in the State.
The South-South Zonal Secretary of Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), Mrs. Gift Ezere, who made the call during the just-concluded six-day training programme for mentor mothers in Port Harcourt, stated that provision of such facilities as project vehicle and functional CD4 Count machines are very important at this point in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Rivers State.
Ezere, who explained that Mentor Mothers are women that have undergone PMTCT, and have now chosen to mentor newly diagnosed HIV positive women, also stated the importance of the project vehicle and CD4 Count machines.
“As Mentor Mothers, we not only counsel identified HIV positive women, we also carry out follow-ups on them in order to encourage them to access ANC services at approved healthcare facilities.
“The vehicle will enable us conveniently track HIV positive pregnant women and link them to uptake PMTCT services”, she said.
On CD4 Count machines, the NEPWHAN Zonal Secretary said for a long while now there have not been any functional CD4 Count machine in the State.
“There are CD4 Count machines in four healthcare facilities in Rivers State: Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), Health of the Sick, Bori General Hospital, and University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).
“Unfortunately, none of the (CD4) machines in these facilities are functional. It’s just last week that that of RSUTH was repaired”, she said.
According to her, the CD4 Count machine “is very important because it enables you to know the level of CD4 in order to ascertain when a client (HIV infected person) is migrating to AA4 (advanced HIV/AIDS)”.
Earlier, the Lead Facilitator of the 6-day Capacity Training for Mentor Mothers, Dr. Francis Opubo Idoniboye-Obu said the objective of the training was to increase the  knowledge and skills of Mentor Mothers on effective Dry Blood Spot (DBS) collection in the State and effective follow-up mechanism to track HIV positive mothers in the State.

By: Sogbeba Dokubo