Ministry of Health Fights Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission

The Ministry of Health has started a pilot programme in the Eastern Region to reduce mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS. This would be undertaken through the administration of antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy delivery.

The programme would be extended to other regions after the experiment in the Eastern Region, which has the highest number of mother to child transmission of the deadly disease.

This was announced by the Dr Henrietta Odoi-Agyarko, Deputy Director of Public Health at seminar to mark World Breast Feeding Week yesterday.

The seminar with the theme "Breastfeeding in the Information Age" was organised to sensitise journalists on the rising trend of mother to child transmission. The seminar was aimed at equipping journalists to disseminate information on the transmission of the disease to the public.

It was organised by Ghana Infant Nutrition Action Network with the support of UNICEF, World Health Organisation, Ministry of Health and the International Club of Journalists for the Rights of Children.

Speaker upon speaker under scored the need for mothers to breastfeed their children up to two years. This is because breast milk has proved efficacious against childhood diseases and builds antibodies of children as they grow into adulthood.

Dr. Isabella Sagoe-Moses who delivered a lecture on Mother to Child Transmission noted that mother to child transmission rate during pregnancy and delivery is about 20-25 percent, with breastfeeding emerging as one of the channels of transmission. Health authorities worldwide are therefore in a dilemma as to whether to encourage breastfeeding or not, where a mother has tested positive to the virus.

One thorny issue that dominated discussions is the likelihood of promoters of manufactured food to take advantage of the situation and bamboozle mothers with their products. More recently, messages have asserted greater safety in manufactured foods, especially in areas worse affected by HIV.

But WHO and UNICEF maintain that breastfeeding is a fundamental right, which should be protected by all communities.