25 percent of babies born with HIV in Zim, mothers shunning ART

At least 25 percent of children born with HIV in Zimbabwe are a result of mothers who would have shunned anti-retroviral Therapy (ART), a senior Government health official has said.
 
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare national Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) co-ordinator Dr Angela Mushavi said a further 75 percent of HIV-positive children were born to mothers whose CD4 count is below 350.
 
According to health experts, a CD4 count that is less than 350 is life-threatening for pregnant women.

"Seventy-five percent of the HIV born babies in the country are by mothers who have CD4 counts less than 350," said Dr Mushavi.
 
"The other 25 percent is a result of mothers who delay initiation of ART because they would have undertaken HIV and Aids tests at a late stage of pregnancy."
 
Dr Mushavi said some cultural norms and beliefs, long distances to health centres and unaffordable medical services were the major reasons why most pregnant women delayed registering their pregnancy and undergoing the routine HIV and Aids tests.
 
According to the PMCT programme, women should get tested for HIV and Aids as soon as they get pregnant.

The programme, to save the child, is effective for mothers who test HIV positive at least six months before giving birth.

"Most pregnant women are coming for HIV test when their pregnancies are more than three months, which becomes difficult to protect the baby from the virus," Dr Mushavi said.
 
It is estimated that about 50 percent of HIV pregnant women in the country have CD4 counts less than 350.

Dr Mushavi said mothers on ART should breastfeed their children on milk alone for the first six months.

The rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission has declined from 30 percent in 2002 to 18 percent in 2011.