AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), an NGO, trained Nasarawa women to aim for childbearing age living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) elimination of transmission of the disease to their infants.
The AHF Nursing Coordinator in Nasarawa, Mrs. Christy Awunor, said that the training was necessary to enable the women to mentor others.
She explained that the training was also in view of the 2020 National Guidelines for HIV Prevention, Treatment, and Care. which showed an increase in the number of children contracting HIV.
She added that “we are here to mentor mothers as components of the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of the virus.
“We are all aware of the new infections; according to the 2020 national guidelines, over 22,000 children are getting infected annually.
“And we know that it is possible to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV as we head toward the 2030 UN target to eliminate PMTCT infection.
“PMTCT is a cascade of its own, and one of the components is mentoring mothers who are HIV positive and have gone through a process. where they have children that are HIV negative because of the treatment.”
She said that because they have passed through the PMTCT process, it would be easier for them to counsel new mothers about the infection.
According to her, those trained will counsel others on how to take care of themselves and not pass the infection on to their children. She said a similar training was held in Kogi, Benue, and the FCT, and AHF would continue to implement programs in states through to the early part of 2024.
The coordinator said, “These women live in communities where they can easily reach other pregnant women and can easily encourage them to attend Antenatal Care (ANC) to have their HIV Testing Services (HTS) done.
“This will enable them to know their status because there is actually low uptake of testing and access to PMTCT services, particularly for mothers who are positive, for many reasons.”
Also, the State Monitoring and Evaluation Assistant at AHF, Caroline Ulamo, added that the rate of HIV transmission from infected mothers to infants remained high, especially in rural areas. “We still have it for those who stay in hard-to-reach areas.’’
She, therefore, stressed the need for more health education, especially at the community level, engaging mentor mothers, community members, and religious leaders to support the elimination of the condition.
An antiretroviral therapy (ART) nurse at AHF Nasarawa, Mr. Solomon Otene, said that the training was to recruit new HIV-positive mothers into mentoring programs to reduce the prevalence of PMTCT.
He said, “We need them to engage and counsel those newly accessing ART services to encourage them because stigma is still on the rise. “Some of these new clients, when you disclose their results, react in different ways.
“But when mentor mothers trained as counselors advise and share their personal experiences and how to protect their babies from being infected, it helps reduce prevalence and increase access to ART.”
The state treasurer, Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN),Mrs. Lasson Ashley, encouraged participants to desist from self-stigmatization and advocate for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission.
A participant, Joy John, decried the challenges affecting HIV-positive children, which would have been averted if pregnant mothers had adhered to the instructions on preventing transmission.
She added that the training had increased her knowledge of advocacy toward engaging community members in the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of the virus.
