Kenya’s Journey Towards Zero New HIV Infections Falters

During shortages of antiretrovirals due to strikes by health staff, Lucia Wakonyo resorted to self-medication. Credit: Miriam Gathigah/IPSBy Miriam GathigahNAIROBI, Jan 29 2014 (IPS) In early January 2008, during the violence that rocked Kenya after disputed general elections, a man knocked at Lucia Wakonyo’s gate at Mathare Valley, in the sprawling Mathare slum.  “He was calling out for my neighbour and I told him my neighbour was not in. He pleaded to give him refuge,” Wakonyo told IPS. When Wakonyo opened the gate, “he threw me to the ground and raped me,” she said. Two months later, she discovered she was pregnant and infected with HIV. Wakonyo never attended an antenatal clinic and delivered an HIV positive baby with a traditional birth attendant.“They get tested for HIV but they do not go back for the results." -- Reproductive health expert Dr Joachim Osur Her next pregnancy was very different. In 2012, Wakonyo delivered an HIV negative baby, after attending antenatal care and being put on prevention of mother-to-child transmission treatment (PMTCT). Wakonyo and her baby benefitted from Kenya’s successful drive to extend PMTCT, which nearly halved new infections among children between 2009 and 2011. But, worryingly, the drive is losing impetus. PMTCT coverage fell by 20 percent in 2011-2012, says the Progress Report 2013 of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). “Five out of 10 pregnant women living with HIV do not receive antiretrovir...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Africa Countdown to ZERO Development & Aid Featured Gender Headlines Health Population Projects Regional Categories TerraViva Europe TerraViva United Nations Women's Health Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Ke Source Type: news