The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has trained women with HIV in the Federal Capital Territory on stopping the spread of the virus to infants.
During the one-day workshop for participants across the six area councils of the FCT, the organization’s Country Director, Dr Echey Ijezie, said the initiative is part of the Mentor Mother program to Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV.
He also mentioned that the training was for mentor mothers and Traditional Birth Attendants to prevent HIV transmission in infants.
More women in Nigeria have HIV than men, according to the National Agency for the Control of AIDS.
The agency stated that young Nigerian women are three times more likely to have HIV than men of the same age group, and six out of 10 people living with HIV in the country are females.
Mentor Mothers are women with HIV trained to work with health workers and peer educators to encourage, educate, and empower HIV-positive pregnant women and new mothers about their health and their babies’ health.
Ijezie said, “We want to create a strong network of mentor mothers who benefited from the services given to HIV-positive pregnant women.
“We are doing this across states of the federation by identifying mentor mothers to work in communities. And as they work in communities, they encourage other mothers to access free treatment.
“Free treatment is given to all women with the virus to protect their unborn children. The goal is to have a generation of children that are HIV-free.”
Ijezie explained that the organization also trained some mentor mothers in Anambra, Nasarawa, Benue, Kogi, Cross River, and the FCT to support and advise HIV-positive women in overcoming stigmatization and accessing healthcare.
“If people share their experiences and are willing to talk about their status openly, it serves as an encouragement to other members of the community, that there is nothing to be afraid of and living positively is not a death sentence.
“We want our babies to be born HIV-negative. So, we’re training women and empowering them to ensure they are working in communities where they live,” he added.
The Advocacy and Marketing Manager of AHF Nigeria, Steve Aborisade, stressed the need for HIV testing during antenatal care.
He said, “It is important that we bring women from the community where they live themselves to speak to other women and get them to come for antenatal care.
“Once a woman attends the antenatal clinic, she must be tested for HIV and if found positive, she gets on to the treatment program immediately, and that guarantees that the child will be born HIV-free.”
The AHF State Nursing Coordinator, Christy Awunor, highlighted the role of mentor mothers to include support during antenatal care, HIV testing, care, and treatment services for newly diagnosed HIV-positive pregnant women.
“Mentor mothers are HIV-positive mothers who were once pregnant and have HIV-free babies. They encourage other positive pregnant women in communities to ensure reduction or total elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV,” she said.
One of the recently appointed mentor mothers, Mrs Grace Ungbian, stated that she managed to stop the spread of the virus to her children because she followed medical instructions and treatment.
She said, “My youngest child is around 17 years old now, but because I went through PMTCT, she is negative.
“When I see pregnant women, I attempt to approach them in order to encourage them to visit the clinic to check their status.”
