How To Check New Infant HIV Infections

By Chioma Umeha The goals of the national programme for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV include elimination of new infections among children and ensuring safe motherhood by 2020. Specifically, Nigeria’s target is for 75 per cent of all pregnant women to receive quality HIV testing and counselling as well as their results before target period. Next, is to ensure that 60 per cent of all HIV positive pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers receives ARVs by 2020. The comprehensive package of PMTCT interventions include, HIV testing services (HTS), ARV and Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for mother-infant pairs and use of lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) for women. A visit to the Heart to Heart Centre (H2H) of the Badagry General Hospital, Lagos State by the Journalists’ Alliance for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Nigeria (JAPIN) underscores why new infant HIV infections and deaths is on the increase. Fir