For the next generation to be free of HIV, all HIV positive pregnant women must be able to access HIV care services irrespective of where they are. ROYAL IBEH reports what government and stakeholders must do to achieve zero Mother-to-Child HIV transmission by 2025.
It is only a mother that can best describe the joy of bringing a life to the world. But that joy could turn into sorrow, if that precious baby is to live with a disease that has no cure.
“That was my fear. I found out that I am HIV positive when I was four months pregnant. When a nurse at Palm Avenue Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC), Mushin, Lagos state, broke the news to me during my Antenatal care (ANC) visit, that I was HIV positive, I told myself that it’s just a nightmare, but I never woke up from that nightmare, Mrs Fatima Akin, a beautician at Mushin, Lagos, tells LEADERSHIP.
While Mrs Akin will live with the virus for the rest of her life, until there is a cure, she was relieved to find out that her unborn child has 99.9 per cent chance of being HIV negative.
“I was told that my unborn baby can be HIV negative, if I start taking my Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment and adhere to it. The fact that my child won’t suffer due to my mistake, lightened my mood and gave me hope. That hope motivated me to keep taking my ARV and adhere to my treatment. I have never missed a dose,” Mrs Akin said.
Though it wasn’t easy, the beautician said, but she is glad that her effort paid off. “My son is nine months today, and he is HIV negative. I am grateful to the government and stakeholders for providing the drugs for us without cost; I am also grateful to my mentor mother and the nurses at Palm Avenue PHC for loving and taking care of us despite our status,” she added.
The experience of Mrs Akin has served as a motivation to expecting mothers who are living with the virus. For instance, Mrs Bola Tobi, a tailor in Lagos tells LEADERSHIP that it has never been easy, taking her drugs every day, but the fact that she has seen HIV positive women, giving birth to HIV negative children, motivated her to adhere to her ARV treatment.
Mrs Tobi said, “I am HIV positive and I am seven months pregnant. I look forward to giving birth to a HIV negative baby. Mrs Akin and other women have proved that if I adhere to my ARV treatment, my baby will be HIV negative.”
While Mrs Tobi and Mrs Akin were fortunate to know their HIV status on time and was placed on ARV treatment, latest data from the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) showed that six million out of eight million pregnant women are not attending antenatal care.
The Agency also revealed that Nigeria has more HIV-infected babies than anywhere in the world, adding that in 2016, the country accounted for 37,000 of the world’s 160,000 new cases of babies born with HIV.
In his reaction, the minister of health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire said despite significant achievements in the HIV programme overall, there is an enduring challenge of persisting poor outcomes in Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT), adding that recent data point to overall underachievement in key result areas including PMTCT.
The minister listed the major bottlenecks impacting PMTCT negatively as the variable coverage of ANC services, unmet need for family planning, poor testing coverage for pregnant women, and poor tracking and retention in care for HIV exposed infants, among others.
The way forward
According to the DG, NACA, Gambo Aliyu, the only way to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission is to take HIV treatment to communities. “If we can do that, I guarantee all of us that in the next 18 months, we will see this huge rebound that we have noticed with ARV treatment surge,” he said.
The CEO, Centre for Integrated Health Programs (CIHP), Dr. Bola Oyeledun tells LEADERSHIP that while over 1.3 million Nigerians living with HIV are on ARV treatment, over 50 per cent of pregnant women with the virus are not on treatment. “When pregnant women are put on ARV treatment, the chances of their children to have the virus is almost zero,” Oyeledun added.
To bridge the gap, the CEO said CHIP has launched the community PMTCT in Lagos state, and will be launching the programme in the other states in Nigeria, adding that the target is to reach every HIV positive pregnant women in communities with ARV and to achieve zero Mother-To-Child Transmission of the virus.
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