South Africa’s health advocacy groups: ‘Health failing to shield kids from HIV’

South Africa’s health advocacy groups have accused the department of health of failing to protect children from contracting HIV from their mothers.

According to statistics recently released by Thembisa Project, the leading mathematical model of HIV in South Africa showed that of approximately 7 200 babies who contracted HIV between 2023 and last year, only 2 500 contracted the virus before or during birth, while the rest were infected during breast-feeding.

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Every child deserves access

The study further revealed that 157 000 children were living with HIV, while one out of three were not on treatment.

Treatment Action Campaign spokesperson Xabisa Qwabe said: “This is unacceptable in a country with one of the largest HIV treatment programmes in the world.”

“Every child deserves access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy. We cannot accept a situation where children are left behind due to systemic failures or social barriers.”

Qwabe said despite significant gains in the fight against HIV, ongoing mother-to-child transmission reflected critical breakdowns in the health care system.

“These include late or no antenatal care, failure to test and treat pregnant women in time, treatment interruptions and social stigma,” she said.

“When a person living with HIV adheres to treatment and achieves an undetectable viral load, the virus cannot be transmitted to others, including from mother to child. This is why adherence to antiretroviral therapy during and after pregnancy is essential.”

Pregnant women needed to be taught about the importance of being on treatment consistently.

She said while the department of health had important intervention programmes, they were not being delivered effectively in all areas.

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