Prevention of mother to child transmission
In 2000 the government of South Africa implemented the HIV/AIDS/STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) strategic plan to guide the country’s response to the HIV pandemic and to guide the provinces, municipalities and districts in their operational plans. Currently, prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) forms part of the government’s Comprehensive Treatment Plan of Action for HIV/AIDS, which includes the anti retroviral treatment (ART). PMTCT forms the initial phase of a holistic approach to a establishing a standard to provide the whole range of required interventions including: Prevention of HIV infection is the bedrock of Government's approach to halt the spread of HIV and the impact of AIDS, since there is no cure for AIDS. The treatment plan has two goals - to provide comprehensive care and treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS and to help strengthen the country's national health system. This programme includes prevention, treatment and care, research and human rights. HIV programs aim to prevent, where possible, every case of HIV and AIDS. At the same time, the mandate of South African health programming is to strive for the health and survival of all children. These objectives, while appropriate and well conceived, have unfortunately created some controversy concerning support for optimal infant feeding. While a small but important percentage of all HIV-transmission occurs via breastfeeding, breastfeeding itself saves millions of lives annually.
Benefits of Breastfeeding It is a well established fact that breastfeeding contributes to reducing mortality by providing optimum nutrition and by protecting against common, but deadly, childhood infections. The Deparment of Health estimates that over 90, 000 babies became infected with HIV through the mother-to-child transmission route. A five-year trend reveals that HIV prevalence rates remain high and that the epidemic is still in the stabilisation phase and has not yet begun to decline. A PMTCT programme was implemented during 2001 in all nine provinces, each province having a rural & an urban site. Data from the national PMTCT programme indicates that HIV transmission rates amongst the 55 % of infants participating in the programme, and who were followed up till 12 months, was 18%. This indicates an approximate 28% reduction in mother-to-child transmission of HIV. New data from a national PMTCT cohort study is expected. UNICEF and PMTCT in South Africa As a member of the PMTCT steering committee UNICEF has provided continuous technical assistance on the review of the need to provide free infant formula as well as on broader infant and young child feeding. This assistance will contribute to the reformulation of the PMTCT strategy / policy which is expected to be completed this year. UNICEF has conducted training programmes for all health workers responsible for counselling HIV positive mothers in the PMTCT sites, trained some 2000 trainers and is currently producing a training manual for use in all the provinces. Baby-friendly health facilities
ithemba Lethu breast milk bank
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