Hospital certifies HIV negative babies
When three-year-old Haddeshah Mipil was declared HIV negative at the Mt. Hagen General Hospital, her HIV positive parents, Mark and Lucy were thrilled.
Mt. Hagen, Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea - When three-year-old Haddeshah Mipil was declared HIV negative at the Mt. Hagen General Hospital, her HIV positive parents, Mark and Lucy were thrilled. Lucy had earlier lost a child to HIV in her previous marriage.
This declaration meant Haddeshah was free from HIV and no longer had to continue with the Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) programme that she had been on for two years ever since she was born.
When I met Mark shortly after I contracted HIV, I didn’t think we would have any children because we are both HIV positive but then I became pregnant. I was very scared.
“I didn’t know if our baby would be born with or without the disease. I thought about this a lot until I delivered. The sisters in charge of the PPTCT programme told me they would work closely with me to make sure my baby did not get this disease, “ Lucy explains in tok pisin.
Through the PPTCT programme, Haddeshah received vital medication and did three required blood tests over a two year period. Her mother started the antiretroviral drugs for HIV treatment and the counselling and psychosocial support she received encouraged her to stick to the programme. In May 2013, Haddeshah and 22 other children were certified as HIV negative by the Mt. Hagen General Hospital.
An estimated 1800 HIV infected women in Papua New Guinea are pregnant and face the risk of passing the virus to their babies during pregnancy, during birth or during breastfeeding. Western Highlands Province where Lucy and Mark come from is the third province with the highest prevalence of HIV. The PPTCT programme is one of the HIV services that UNICEF supports to protect children from HIV infection and help HIV infected mothers and their families to survive and live longer to look after their children.
For Lucy and Mark, the PPTCT programme has given them new hope. Their second daughter, 11-month-old Melissa Munmundi is currently on the PPTCT programme.
“When Haddeshah was born, we had a lot of doubt and we were very emotional. We thought our child might be infected. After going through the PPTCT programme, she was given a certificate by doctors to confirm that now she’s HIV negative. We are very happy about that part of her life. Our second child, Melissa is on the PPTCT programme now and we expect to hear a good result too when she is two years old. The PPTCT programme has made it possible for people living with HIV to have HIV free babies,” an elated Mark explains.
Dr. John Kiap, Director for Curative Services in the Western Highlands Provincial Authority says the success of the PPTCT programme is changing the mindsets of people about families with HIV infected parents and the well being of their children.
“The effectiveness of this PPTCT programme has actually shown that we can have HIV negative babies from HIV positive parents. We can do a lot of awareness and find an effective way to communicate this to them so that if there is some element of stigma that is there with the parents, that shall never be passed on in a society to the children. They can be accepted as just any other person.”
