By Wairimu Nyambura
Sept 25/2013
A new initiative that aims to reduce mother to child HIV
transmission is underway in Kenya.
The program dubbed “mentor to mother” employs mothers who
are already HIV positive to act as health care providers for pregnant HIV
mothers and new mothers.Dr. Maxwell Omondi, the head of the initiative said the program aims to complement the services of nurses and doctors government in health facilities in the country.
“The role of nurses in most health facilities has increased over the years but their numbers have not hence this program aims to bridge the gap in terms of quality health delivery,” said Dr. Omondi.
He added that the program model puts women at the centre of HIV reduction efforts in Kenya.
He added that the programme is having a positive impact, by reducing HIV transmission from mother to child.
“Adherence levels to Anti Retroviral (ARV) drugs used to treat HIV has increased with more babies born without the virus,” notes Peris Njoki one of the mentor mothers overseeing five mentor mothers in the program at the slum based Mathari North Health Centre in Nairobi.
However, Ms. Njoki admits that there are challenges with the mothers in the program brought on by poverty.
“Most women in the program are forced to relocate from one slum to the other due to challenges in paying rent making it difficult to adhere to the program,” she says.
There are over 1.4 million pregnant women in low and middle income countries infected with HIV most of them from Sub-Saharan Africa. The mentor to mother program rolled out in parts of Nairobi and Western Kenya, is now being promoted in nearly 100 government health facilities.
