Nakuru County government in collaboration with USAID, Tujenge Jamii programme, conducted a training of health workers on the importance of Preventing Mother- to- Child HIV/AIDS Transmission.
Nakuru County AIDS and STIs Coordinator (CASCO) Rchael Kiuna said they are committed to eliminating mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV and will take a harmonised and integrated approach to improve health outcomes for women and children.
Ms Kiuna said the county government was dedicated and devoted to offering universal access to HIV prevention, and treatment by ensuring that everything was done to assist positive expectant mothers to avert transmission to the unborn child.
The Tujenge Jamii programme head, Dr Lucy Matu said they are determined to achieve the vision 2030 goal of reducing the number of people living with HIV to a mere minimum through their awareness programmes and by supporting health workers countrywide through regular training to prevent any transmission from mother to child.
Matu further said they hope to ensure that 95 per cent of the people living with HIV/AIDS who know their status are put on treatment and take the drugs without fail.
She noted that the involvement of expectant mothers in their programme builds capacity for the county government’s health department to manage the increasing cases of HIV/Aids, and offer family planning/reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health.
She said the harmonised and integrated approaches have proved effective in the outcomes of women and children due to the time saved, instead of making a visit to the health centres for various needs.
Matu commended the health workers for their positive attitude towards the care of adolescent mothers, which has increased uptake of reproductive health seriously, unlike in the past when they were kept away from health providers, due to shame and harassment.
By Veronica Bosibori
