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- UNICEF Lesotho Voices - We Hope Time 2008-05-29 18:42
- Matiesetso Pahlabaki found out she was HIV positive when she was pregnant with Retsepile but did not take it seriously. She was badly advised and did not go back to the hospital for further check-ups. She gave birth at home without access to medication to help prevent her passing HIV to her child. She did not receive any advice about feeding options either - UNICEF recommends that HIV positive women with no access to safe alternatives should breastfeed exclusively for 6 months. As a result, Matiesetso has never breastfed her baby - instead, she has fed her basic porridge since birth. The baby has not been tested for HIV but is very sick and malnourished. In the African kingdom of Lesotho almost one in every four adults is living with HIV, the third highest HIV prevalence rate in the world. One in three pregnant women in antenatal care is HIV positive, meaning that every year thousands of children risk being born with HIV, passed from mother to child during pregnancy or birth. UNICEF has helped to increase the number of clinics and hospitals offering Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) services that reduce the chances of babies being born with HIV. In these clinics, every pregnant mother is tested for HIV, given counselling and advice and if necessary, put on a life-saving anti retroviral (ARV) drug regime. Within eight hours of the birth, the newborn is also given a dose of the ARV Nevirapine. All of this increases the chances of the baby being born free from HIV. However, despite ongoing efforts, today only 20% of all HIV positive women in the country can access PMTCT. As a result, one in ten of all babies are born with HIV in Lesotho. Photographer Gideon Mendel travelled to Lesotho in November 2007 and the resulting Lesotho Voices films, images and words tell the personal stories of several women there. The women are from different regions of the country, all are living with HIV. Some of them have benefited from PMTCT. Others have suffered without access to these vital services.Find out more about the Born Free campaign at: www.unicef.org.uk/youthvoice/bornfree.as p.
- Tag: »africa »aids »babies »born »campaign »free »hiv »lesotho »unicef »women
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