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Hinterland PMTCT programme successful

Oct 29, 2008 News


– NAPS Head

The introduction of the Prevention from Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme in the hinterland regions of Guyana has proven to be a success according to Head of the National AIDS Programme Secretariat, Dr Shanti Singh.
Dr Singh revealed that a specialised DNA test is conducted on the babies of infected women because of their exposure, to determine their status.
And according to her, to date, some 10 babies have been tested in regions one, eight, nine and ten but none of the babies were recorded as HIV positive. She credited the PMTCT programme as one of the main factors that has been helping to reduce the infection rate in those regions.
In terms of HIV/AIDS treatment and care programmes in the hinterland, with the exception of Bartica, she disclosed that 43 persons have been recorded in such programmes, of which 31 are currently on antiretroviral therapy.
And in order to ensure that the treatment and care programmes are being sustained, Dr Singh disclosed that regular trips are made to the hinterland regions.
Additionally, she said that in terms of prevention programmes, a number of activities have been engaged, noting that in the year 2006 close to 150 peer educators were trained in the hinterland areas. In that same year, according to Dr. Singh, Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) in those areas accounted for more than 30 per cent of the nation’s VCTs, thus indicating that a significant amount of testing is ongoing in those regions.
These initiatives, Dr Singh noted, are proven to be successful with the Ministry of Health’s collaboration with a number of government as well as non-governmental organisations.
She named supporting NGOs such as Youth Challenge Guyana and the Red Cross Society and Government entities such as the Ministries of Education, Local Government, and Amerindian Affairs, as a few that have been instrumental to the HIV/AIDS programmes in the hinterland.
She further noted that organisations such as the Geology and Mines Commission and Iwokrama that traditionally have not been involved in such ventures, have offered their support as well.
According to Dr Singh, the HIV/AID

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