30 Jan CIHP PIONEERS INNOVATIVE COMMUNITY PMTCT SERVICES IN LAGOS USING TRADITIONAL BIRTH ATTENDANTS
Center for Integrated Health Programs (CIHP) has introduced an innovative approach to give pregnant women HIV services in the community. The approach, Community Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV services, (Community PMTCT) utilizes traditional birth centers and community-based organizations to mobilize pregnant women to test for HIV.
Afterwards, pregnant women who test HIV positive are linked to their preferred health facilities to receive care and HIV medications. CIHP also offers supportive assistance to these HIV-positive mothers in the community to promptly access Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) for their children and engages in tracking mothers who need preventive services.
Beneficiaries who are also expecting mothers viewing the IEC materials during the TBA Activation exercise.
The Lagos state CIHP Project Lead, Dr Shola Oguntona states that, “by September 2022, more than 116,000 pregnant women got tested for HIV. We identified 202 HIV-positive pregnant women and provided them with life-saving treatment and prevention interventions. In Lagos State, we also tracked 238 HIV Exposed Infants and provided them with preventive HIV medicines (ARV Prophylaxis) and Early Infant Diagnosis,” he said.
These infants would otherwise have had no access to these services earlier provided mainly through formal ante natal care settings at health facilities.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs O. O who resides in Akodo, Ibeju Lekki LGA says that she is grateful that the testers came to her village,
“I didn’t know that I had HIV. I tested positive in the Traditional Birth Home I attend, and was given drugs the same day to prevent me from falling sick and prevent my baby from getting HIV. The drugs were given to me for free and the nurse told me if I take them every day, my baby will not get HIV from me.”
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