National AIDS Control Programme has reported an increase in HIV infections among infants from their mothers, despite the implementation of the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) program.
Dr. Stephen Ayisi-Addo, Programme Manager of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), attributed this trend to inadequate testing and poor adherence to medication among pregnant women. As a result, newborns are continuing to contract the virus from their mothers.
Speaking at the 2023 dissemination of National HIV estimates, Dr. Ayisi-Addo expressed concern over the persistent transmission of HIV to newborns in healthcare facilities.
The PMTCT initiative, jointly implemented by NACP, the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), and their partners, aims to prevent HIV transmission from mothers to their babies. Pregnant women are screened for HIV during antenatal care, and those diagnosed positive receive medication to safeguard their infants from infection.
Recent data from the National HIV estimation indicates that 12,108 mothers aged 15 to 49 are currently undergoing PMTCT treatment, while an additional 13,445 mothers in the same age group require PMTCT services.
He noted that a lot of the babies contracting HIV from their mothers were babies from mothers who missed testing during ANC, saying, “We are talking covering about 90 per cent of all ANC attendance for HIV testing, so those who come in late do not get the treatment to prevent the mother from transmission to the baby.
“We need to be able to improve the ANC testing coverage. We need to improve so that people will have supervised delivery on their routine services offered when pregnant women come to the facility,” he added.
The Programme Manager highlighted that non-adherence to medication among HIV-infected mothers is leading to the transmission of the virus to their newborns.
He emphasized that not all identified mothers receive the necessary antiretroviral treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
Additionally, out of approximately 6,000 PMTCT facilities, only 730 are equipped to provide antiretroviral therapy (ARV). Dr. Ayisi Addo noted that some pregnant women face challenges accessing PMTCT services due to transportation issues, prompting a new strategy to decentralize ARV therapy across all centers.
Dr. Ayisi Addo also addressed postnatal transmission risks, particularly through breastfeeding. To mitigate this, the national response program has implemented strict guidelines for HIV-positive mothers on infant feeding practices.
However, adherence to these guidelines remains a challenge, contributing to ongoing transmission cases.
Acknowledging gaps in the implementation of infant feeding guidelines, the Programme Manager attributed this partly to the shortage of trained service providers available to educate mothers effectively on safe feeding practices, potentially exposing babies to the virus.
“It is our aspiration and determination to make sure that we address all these issues and improve on strategic interventions to improve on the figures and reduce mother to child transmission to at least 2 per cent, which is an elimination target.
Dr Stephen Atuahene, Director General of the GAC, said strict adherence to treatment was key as it suppressed the virus and would help to avoid perinatal transmission.
He said it was important for HIV positive women to achieve viral suppression before getting pregnant and necessary to maintain the suppression status, saying, “It is also the responsibility of the mother to adhere to treatment, maintain viral suppression status and avoid transmission.
“As long as you can do that, you have a better chance of averting transmission to your baby and so adherence is very crucial to all persons living with HIV and taking the medication. This is so important for mothers because every woman will want to have a healthy baby and therefore you have to avoid any risk that will expose your child to infection.”