Dikgosi urged to lead HIV fight

Bonte Seepi | Wednesday February 8, 2017 17:04

 

Addressing the Palapye Administrative Authority (PAA) dikgosi recently, the PMTCT coordinator from Mogome Clinic, Veronica Letebejane said community leaders should work hand in hand with the departments of health in their respective villages to fight against HIV. Letebejane emphasised that there was need to engage community leaders in order to advocate for the programme, adding that dikgosi needed to address health issues whenever they gathered the public.

She said health authorities were still worried by statistics of couples who do not test together for HIV in the area, saying that partner testing rate was at 19% only. Baby testing by HIV positive mothers is said to be at 94% even though only 68% have received their results.

“We are also experiencing problems with women who do not want to breastfeed. Even if one is HIV positive, they can breastfeed as long as they have registered for the PMTCT programme. Of all the women in the PMTCT programme in PAA, only 21% are breastfeeding. These are low numbers though we always educate and emphasise the importance of breastfeeding,” said Letebejane.

In Palapye alone, the partner testing rate is said to be at only nine percent mainly due to the fact that most women are impregnated by married men, Letebejane said.

She said a challenge exists whereby not all HIV positive mothers have access to Antiretroviral therapy (ARV), adding that all children born from HIV positive mothers should be tested.

“Mothers should attend classes even after giving birth because if one stops treatment while breastfeeding, there is still a possibility of infecting the child. We also encourage men to massage their expectant partners during pregnancy,” she said.

For their part, PAA dikgosi said there were a variety of problems regarding HIV in the area, from parents selling the rations given to their toddlers, including the formula supplied, to others throwing away their medication into pit latrines or the bush. Palapye deputy customary court president, Kgosi Michael Maforaga said other “unpleasant issues” included a trend where some women, especially the youth, do not want to breastfeed as they fear sagging breasts.

“It is not all the people who default from the ARV treatment and throw away the pills, but some people are clever enough to generate money from such medication. People sell the ARV provided by Government to foreigners, especially Zimbabweans who do not have access to such,” Maforaga said.

The community leader further stated that they are concerned about Batswana women who have children with foreigners who do not have travel documents. When the women are found to be HIV positive, these partners are difficult to trace. “We also have Bazezuru who do not want to immunise their children and also give birth at home.

“That is risky and it encourages the spread of HIV. All expectant women must go for regular hospital checkups and even do HIV tests. We therefore, as dikgosi intend to help the Department of Health by calling Bazezuru for a meeting at our dikgotla to discuss such issues with them in the presence of all stakeholders including the district commissioner, education and immigration departments,” he said.