HIV: Why Nigeria’s plan to eliminate infant transmission may fail
By: Chioma Umeha It was 7.00am, when my phone rang. I picked the phone without checking the caller. Peace is dead! Peace is dead! So I heard, but the voice could not be mistaken. It was that of Adanne (surname withheld) my cousin. As she sobbed profusely, I also heard noise at the background, perhaps neighbours trying to console her. ‘Its okay, I’m coming tomorrow,’ I told Ada as we fondly called her. My plea through the phone conversation appeared to have fallen on deaf ears. This made me more confused. So, I quickly rushed to Owerri, Imo state, her residence the next day. I was apparently bewildered at the story that later unfolded. Adanne, aged 30, happily tied the nuptial knot December 5, 2009, to her heartthrob, Emeka. I was at her wedding. She was further overjoyed to become pregnant few months after. But her joy was punctuated a month after delivery, as her baby, Peace, often appeared sickly. Mistaken the symptoms to be for cold, the nearest health centre provided appr