The National Aids Control Programme (NACP) says there is an increase in HIV mother-to-child infections despite the implementation of the Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT).
Dr Stephen Ayisi-Addo, Programme Manager of the National Aids Control Programme (NACP), said the situation was due to a lack of testing and adherence to medication by pregnant women, hence the continuous infection from mothers to their babies.
At the 2023 dissemination of National HIV estimates, Dr Ayisi-Addo expressed concern that facilities continue to record newborn babies infected with the virus, which is a transmission from the mother to the baby.
The Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) is one of the interventions instituted by NACP, Ghana Aids Commission (GAC), and partners to ensure the prevention of HIV transmission from mothers to their babies.
With the intervention, pregnant women would have to get tested for HIV at Antenatal care service and those found positive would be put on medication to protect the baby from getting infected.
The National HIV estimation showed that 12,108 mothers, aged 15 to 49 years, are receiving Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) treatment.
It also indicated that 13,445 mothers needed PMTCT between the ages of 15 to 49 years.
He noted that many of the babies contracting HIV from their mothers were babies from mothers who missed testing during ANC, saying, “We are talking about covering about 90 per cent of all ANC attendance for HIV testing, so those who come in late do not get the treatment to prevent the mother from transmitting to the baby.
“We need to be able to improve the ANC testing coverage. We need to improve so that people will have supervised delivery on the routine services offered when pregnant women come to the facility,” he added.
The Programme Manager also indicated that a lack of adherence to taking their medication by HIV-infected mothers was causing transmission from mothers to their newborns.
He said even with those tested and identified, not all of them get the antiretroviral treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
Source: GNA
