Report: Ghana records surge in HIV cases among pregnant women

Data from the HIV Estimates and AIDS Projections report also revealed that 5,200 new infections of HIV were recorded in children 0-14 out of a total population of about 19,000 in 2020

Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo, the National AIDS/STI Control Programme manager, has said there was a surge in cases of HIV cases among pregnant women in the country.

Dr. Ayisi Addo said this can be attributed to the increased confidence in infertility among persons living with HIV.

According to him, data analysis in a Sentinel Survey conducted in 2020 revealed that women who had been pregnant more than once had a higher prevalence compared to first pregnancies partly because of their confidence that they could have healthy babies.

The study, he noted, further showed that prevalence among general antenatal care (ANC) clients was 2% and among those with Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis among others was 10% in 2020.

Data from the HIV Estimates and AIDS Projections report also revealed that 5,200 new infections of HIV were recorded in children 0-14 out of a total population of about 19,000 in 2020 and out of the number, 82% were females including pregnant women.

Since the first case of HIV in 1986, there were currently 346,120 people living with HIV as of the end of 2020, with 66 percent of the figure being females and about eight percent children aged 0-14.

Dr. Ayisi Addo, speaking at the seventh edition of the stakeholder engagement and worker appreciation seminar organized by the Tema Regional Office of the Ghana News Agency said, hitherto, persons who tested positive and became pregnant, assumed that their babies would become automatically positive often leading to the abandonment of the babies.

The stakeholder engagement is a platform rolled out for state and non-state actors to address national issues and serves as a motivational mechanism to recognize the editorial contribution of reporters towards national development in general and growth and promotion of the Tema GNA as the industrial news hub.

He said HIV suppressed fertility, and persons who tested positive and were not on treatment had their fertility robustness reduced as a result of the viral effect, adding that with treatment, “some persons were delivering healthy twins.”

“Because of the elimination of mother to child transmission programme where certain interventions are given to a positive mother to prevent transmission to baby, they are giving birth to more negative babies, which is good for the HIV control Programme,” he said.

He, however, indicated that that confidence and assuredness was making persons living with HIV think then that, they could have more babies, and once that happened, the risk of reinfection and new transmission to partners remained.

He reiterated that the risk persisted because transmission could occur during conception, labor and delivery, and breastfeeding. If the woman was not adherent to medications, it could lead to an even higher risk of transmission to babies.

He stated that to deal with the disturbing trend, family planning services and education must be intensified to prevent unintended pregnancies among persons living with HIV and empower vulnerable females to be more assertive in dealing with potential sources of infection.

In lowering the trend further, he said NACP was working with collaborative agencies, the Ministries of Gender and Social Protection, Education and Health to empower them to be free from HIV, and emphasized that “when you take emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy, it does not deal with STIs and HIV as it only prevents pregnancy.”

Dr. Ayisi Addo explained that “the face of HIV has changed positively because of treatment but in ensuring that people live normal lives and not think HIV is no longer an issue and be careless and spread it, education must be intensified.”

Source: GNA