Check Your HIV Status ... 1st Lady Advises Expectant Mothers

By Abigail Annoh

First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo has asked expectant mothers to be bold and test to know their HIV status to prevent transmission of the virus to their unborn children.

"My fellow women, visit antenatal clinics regularly when you become pregnant, be bold and test for HIV to know your status. If you test positive, know that you are not alone because there are nearly 40 million people living with HIV globally.

"The most important thing is to adhere to antiretroviral treatment to ensure that you give birth to an HIV-free baby who will live and grow free of HIV," she said.

Mrs Akufo-Addo gave the advice yesterday when she launched the "Free-to-Shine Campaign" to mobilise action towards reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDs across the country.

A continental initiative of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDs (OAFLA), the African Union (AU) and UNAIDS, the campaign is based on the premise that children should be born "free of HIV, remain free of HIV and become Free to shine" in all aspects of their lives.

In line with the national theme; "Prevention of mother-to-child transmission: The key to an HIV-free generation and keeping mother's alive", the project hopes to achieve zero HIV infection in children by 2020 and end AIDs amongst them by 2030 through keeping infected mothers alive and healthy.

The First Lady in her statement signalled Ghana's capability to eliminate the infection among children by leveraging on best practices across the globe and adopting new scientific methods.

"Some African countries which have achieved or are on course to achieving elimination of mother-to-child transmission do not have the technical capacity and advantages Ghana has so we can also do it.

Thanks to scientific advancement in the field of HIV, the world and indeed Ghana have made huge progress in HIV treatment. Why should any woman deny herself the benefits of these life-saving medicines because of stigma?," she wondered.

Mrs Akufo-Addo expressed optimism HIV among children could end within the next two years through the campaign but observed the need to remove bottlenecks associated with the supply of medicines to adequately meet demands of victims.

"I encourage men to support their pregnant wives to test for HIV and call on development partners, other stakeholder organisations and the private sector to support this campaign," she urged.

The Country Director of UNAIDs, Angela Trenton-Mbonde, in a remark stressed that "no baby should be born with HIV when prevention is possible" in this age.

She therefore underscored the need to increase advocacy on "HIV testing, treatment and remaining on treatment" while routine data collected on the number of pregnant women tested and on antiretroviral treatment, be used for strict monitoring and evaluation on progress of efforts made in the field.

"We need to take a family-centered testing approach that should start with the pregnant mother and if she is positive, then we should encourage her partner and all her children to be tested for HIV to allow us to be sure that no one is missed and left without access to life-saving antiretroviral drugs," the Country Director added.

Maame Yaa Bosomtwe. Executive Secretary, OAFLA Secretariat on her part, lauded Ghana for taking the giant step with 15 other countries to launch the campaign and called for collaborative support to ensure the initiative achieved its set goals.

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