| From: |
Adeyemo Gabriel [ profile ] |
| Subject: |
Kenya: Management of sexually transmitted infections lags behind PMTCT
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| Sent: |
Apr 28th, 2011 - 20:16:11 |
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Source:* PlusNews*
http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?Reportid=92507
Fellow Advocate
Failure to diagnose and treat syphilis and other sexually transmitted
infections (STIs) among pregnant women in Kenya means thousands of mothers
risk losing their children or passing on the infections to their unborn
children. While prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) has
expanded, with more than 1,000 sites offering the services across the
country, STIs - which raise the risk of contracting HIV and can lead to
congenital STIs, low birth weight and stillbirths - are often missed, even
when women visit antenatal care centres; an estimated 92 percent of Kenyan
women will seek antenatal care at least once during pregnancy.
The prevalence of syphilis in the general population is 1.8 percent, but is
higher among people infected with HIV. "Not many health facilities,
especially small ones like this one, have personnel who can screen for
sexually transmitted diseases and so once they enrol HIV-positive mothers on
prevention of mother-to-child transmission progr ammes, it ends there and it
is believed all is well," said Ann Karanja, a clinical officer at Korogocho
Health Centre, a government clinic in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. "Many
women and even men keep signs of a venereal infection secret and never
report to health workers - it is only realized after delivery during which
it might be too late to reverse the damage already inflicted on the child,
or when they have already had premature or stillbirths."
A 2009 report from a high-level consultative meeting on STIs and
reproductive health convened by the government concluded that there had been
weak policy level support for the management of STIs; the report noted, for
instance, that the Kenya National AIDS Strategic Plan 2009-13 did not put
sufficient emphasis on the management of STIs. It further noted that the
"linkages between STI clinics and counselling and testing services remain
weak". Nicholas Muraguri, head of the National AIDS and STI Control
Programme, says the government is now starting to take STIs more seriously.
Click on the link above to read full article
--
Many Thanks
Yours' in Prevention Science
Adeyemo Damilare Gabriel
Regional Focal Point - West Africa
Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AID (GYCA)
+234-80-6798-7317 | gabriel (at) gyca.org
www.gyca.org | www.tigweb.org
GYCA is a youth-led global network of more than 4,500 young leaders and
adult allies working on youth and HIV/AIDS in 150 countries world-wide.
GYCA's mission is to empower young leaders with the skills, knowledge,
resources and opportunities they need to scale up HIV/AIDS interventions
amongst their peers.
Universal Access is possible; *
*Zero new HIV infections. **Zero discrimination and ***Zero AIDS-related
deaths.***
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