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The local PMTCT programme is effective
Feb 18, 2011 Letters
Dear Editor,
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 370,000 children under the age of 15 were newly infected with HIV in 2009 through mother to child transfusion (PMTCT). HIV/AIDS transmission from mother to child pre and post-partum is however, at a relatively stable rate in Guyana. In 2001, NAPS, and the Maternal Child Health Department of the Ministry of Health in collaboration UNICEF and PAHO launched the PMTCT Programme in Guyana, with only eight clinics at three hospital sites in Regions Four and Six. Today, Guyana’s PMTCT Programme has in excess of 100 sites in eight Regions, and to date, has 156 sites nationwide.
Today, efforts made to decrease and ultimately prevent the spread of HIV are still of national priority. The PMTCT programme aimed at preventing the transfusion of HIV from mother to child during pregnancy is one of the most successful HIV programmes in Guyana. Through this programme, pregnant women receive counseling and are given Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARD) to reduce the risk of them passing on the virus to their unborn child.
The drug Zidovudine, a universally acknowledged HIV treatment drug that blocks the reverse transcriptase enzyme and changes HIV’s genetic material into DNA, is provided free of charge, without discrimination to all HIV patients. This drug is also critical in stopping the transfer of the virus during breastfeeding, a process for which the Ministry has stringent guidelines that must be adhered to.
Post-partum detection and treatment of new-born babies, which was not available in Guyana in 2001, is today standard practice at all HIV clinics. New-born babies can now be tested via DNA testing at birth, and if HIV positive, are immediately administered liquid formulations of the ARV treatment.
The Ministry of Health’s dream of giving every child the opportunity of living an HIV-free life through their PMTCT interventions fully incorporates safe motherhood and childcare initiatives. While the success of the PMTCT is not an area usually discussed, the programme continues successfully, with 97% of women having access to antenatal services.
Rachael Bakker
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