HARARE - Lack of access to information on where and how to access paediatric drugs and Antiretroviral treatment for children under the age of five years old has cost thousands of infant lives in Zimbabwe at a time when the drugs are expiring in the countrys health centres.According to Head of the Aids and Tuberculosis Unit in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare Owen Mugurungi, of the 105 740 children living with HIV and Aids in Zimbabwe, only 25 000 were on treatment.??
A United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) report said 100 children under 5 years of age were dying each day in Zimbabwe, mostly from HIV/AIDS related illnesses when drugs were available.??
Medical experts said not enough information was being given to parents by responsible authorities.??
A National Pharmacy official said: Its true that we have a lot of stock of paediatric drugs but uptake has been very low. From my understanding the major reason of low uptake is the reluctance by doctors to put infants on ARVs and to us its a worrisome development. ??
Grace Nyamhunga of Karoi said her two year old child was born HIV positive but was not put on ARVs immediately . She said this was despite that doctors had told her that the child was HIV positive.??
When I gave birth at Chitindiva clinic two years ago, the nurses said they did not have the HIV facilities. They said I should go to Karoi Hospital, she said. ?
She said she later took the child to Chinhoyi hospital through the help of her brother who stays there. The child was later put on treatment. ?
Muguringi said 95 percent of children who were HIV positive acquired the virus from their mothers through birth, an indication that the prevention of mother to child transmission programmes were not working properly.
Post published in: Analysis