Check HIV status Pregnant women Advised

A mother living with HIV has advised pregnant women to go for Voluntary Testing and Counselling (VTC) to know their HIV status to help protect their unborn babies against HIV infections.

She said if she had taken advantage of such an opportunity, she would have protected her child from getting infected.

The 32-year-old mother was speaking at a programme on prevention of HIV as part of a behavioural change project, organised by the Technical Support Unit of the Ghana AIDS Commission in the Eastern Region for students of the Victory Vocational Institute in Koforidua.

The programme was aimed at protecting the students against HIV infection.

She said she was a strong woman who never knew her HIV status until she gave birth to her first child about four years ago.

The woman said 10 months after delivery, her baby developed a boil under the armpit and was taken to hospital but after several treatments without success, the medical officer called for HIV test and the baby was found to be HIV positive.

She was also encouraged to take the test which later proved positive.

She encouraged all women to know their HIV status so that they could seek early treatment and protect their children and the future generation from HIV infections.

Ms Golda Asante, Technical Co-ordinator of the Ghana AIDS Commission, in charge of the Eastern Regional branch, advised the students to concentrate on their education and avoid going to town without permission to engage in activities that could expose them to acquiring HIV.

She said the target of the Eastern Regional branch of the commission was to achieve zero infection of HIV and the total elimination of mother-to-child transmissions.

The woman informed the students that they could access VTC on HIV in all government hospitals in the region and those who test positive could be put on the Anti-Retroviral Therapy to sustain them for the rest of their lives.