A significant drop in pre-natal clinic visits has resulted in a spike in mother-to-child HIV transmission, according to Health Principal Secretary (PS) Susan Mochache.
Speaking on March 11, Mochache said that 1,184 mother-to-child HIV transmission cases were recorded in Kisii, Migori, Homabay and Nyamira counties in 2020, a cause for concern for parents and health ministry officials
A majority of the mothers said they kept off clinic visits in 2020 because they feared contracting Covid-19. Mochache however urged pregnant women and their partners to go for HIV testing.
“I want to challenge us especially the women rights groups represented by Maendeleo ya Wanawake Chair Rahab Mwikali, HIV-Aids is a women rights’ agenda.
“Our first lady has been at the forefront of championing the elimination of mother-to-child transmissions of HIV. I call for action. Leaving this issue to women leaving with HIV alone through the silence in our women's agenda platforms negates the agenda of gender equality,” Mochache said.
In 2020, 95,000 girls aged between 15 and 24 years and 900,000 women tested positive for HIV.
The PS said that the emergence of Covid-19 has affected young girls with reports of an increase in teenage pregnancies and gender-based violence being recorded in 2020.
“We are aware that the burden of HIV among these women and girls goes beyond their medications to other issues such as stigma and discrimination, cultural dis-inheritance and gender-based violence,” Mochache said.
Even though the information on how to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission is readily available to Kenyans, many mothers still fail to go for the required tests and medication that will help prevent transmission of the disease.
A HIV-positive mother can transmit HIV to her unborn child during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.
Treatment with a combination of HIV medicines called antiretroviral therapy or ART can help in preventing transmission of HIV to the baby and also protect the health of the mother.
Health workers advise that the sooner a mother starts treatment the better for the child and for her. The health workers also advised pregnant women who fear that they have contracted the virus to get tested again in their third trimester.
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