Let’s curb rising cases of HIV spread from mother to child

It is now ten years after the Government initiated measures to curb the spread of HIV/Aids in children. Though significant inputs have been in place since then, the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMCT) is still worrying.Available statistics paint a grim picture of mother to child transmission (MTCT), perhaps sending a message that it is time to review the strategies that have been put in place to deal with the situation.

During the past decade, the international community has continually committed to scale up access to health services and reduce the burden of HIV among women and children in line with the Millennium Development Goals, which include the targets to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds, reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters, achieve universal reproductive health and to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/Aids by 2015.

The National Aids Control Council, in early 2010 launched the National Strategic Plan (Knasp III) and pledged commitment to combat the spread of HIV/Aids.These efforts are commendable and it is in the interest of the whole country that other players come in with new strategies. Adding to this call are other health programmes like the Campaign to End Paediatric HIV/Aids (CEPA) which is a three-year global advocacy campaign initiated by the Global Aids alliance, in key partnership with the Clinton Foundation HIV initiative and UNICEF. The campaign seeks to leverage policy reforms on health care and treatment access in

Kenya and at the global level, expand and activate in country advocacy networks and hold governments and decision makers accountable for tangible progress towards their policy commitments.It is such initiatives that are required to combat paediatric HIV/Aids infection by 2013. The Government should prioritise a review of its strategies to supplement CEPA and other organisations’ efforts.