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South Africa wants zero-HIV mother to child transmission

Xinhua, July 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Monday launched "the last mile" which is a plan to eliminate the mother to child transmission of HIV in the country.

Motsoaledi unveiled the ambitious plan during one of the discussion sessions at the 21st International AIDS Conference that started in Durban on Monday.

South Africa has managed to reduce the mother to child transmission from 30 percent 10 years ago to the current 1.5 percent. The country intends to reduce the current rate to 0.8 percent in the next five years.

Motsoaledi said, "We can do it. No child born with HIV in South Africa."

The dream will be realized with the number of interventions South Africa has put in place, he said, adding that one of these is the MomConnect where all pregnant women register their number and receive messages educating them about the state of their conditions and what to expect.

The messages also encourage those who are HIV positive to take medication among others, according to Mostoaledi.

There are now 800 000 pregnant mothers on the programme and the country is trying to increase the number to one million.

The minister also said they are now trying to reduce the infection to zero by 2030 under the country's National Development Plan.

Motsoaledi said, "There are missed opportunities and we can do more to ensure the delivery of high impact for prevention, treatment care and support for HIV for all women and all women in the country."

UNICEF, which partners the government in fighting HIV/AIDS, hailed the government's achievement of 1.5 percent in mother to child transmission.

Speaking on the same occasion, Anthony Lake, United Nations Children's Fund executive director, said, "These successes also spur us to finish the job. We cannot forget the lives that are still being left behind."

Anna Mokhanya, a 33-year-old South African HIV positive mother, said the initiatives by the government has enabled her to live a healthy life and also to have two children who are not infected by the disease.

Mokhanya who tested positive in 2006 is not one of the ladies who educate other women to go for antenatal care early.

Pearl Holele, Chief Director in the Department of Health, said they have plans and intervention in place to ensure the project become a success.

She said they have decentralized the HIV counselling testing, trained many health personnel in this regard and put people on antiretroviral treatment.

The country has also reduced the dose for HIV from three to a single dose per day, putting a person on treatment with 350 CD4 count unlike in the past where one had to be less than 200.

Holele said, "We have high level political leadership who have a will to see us succeeding, everybody implements the programme and the mentorship program on women. The road to elimination of mother to child transmission is not how you start but how you finish."

The country has also put the HIV positive children under five years on treatment regardless of the level of CD4 count. Other countries which have recorded zero mother to child transmission are Cuba, Moldavia, Thailand and Belarus. Endit