HIV-positive Bupe Mwamba, 22, lies next to her newborn baby girl at the rural clinic she just gave birth in and wonders if her baby is HIV-positive too.
She has been for counselling throughout her antenatal check-ups and knows there is a chance her baby girl may be HIV-negative. But it still does not eliminate her fears and anxieties.
“It is a moment of reflection about the future of your child and how your child will cope being HIV-positive. It cannot go without (me feeling) some kind of fear as a human being,” she said.
Here at the Chipulukuso rural health centre in Ndola, Zambia’s Copperbelt province, when an HIV test was done, blood samples were taken and then transported to a central regional hospital for analysis. The results were then sent back to the rural centre in a process that used to sometimes take up to 10 weeks.
And in the lifetime of a newborn baby, it was valuable time wasted during which the HIV-positive infant could have been placed on antiretroviral treatment (ART).
But Mwamba is fortunate. She will not have to wait so long to know her baby’s status.
Because of the delays in sending and receiving HIV test results the ministry of health has piloted a short messaging service (SMS) that will now send HIV results of children less than 18 months back to health centres within three to five days.
The blood sample taken from Mwamba’s baby, together with other samples from other rural health centres, are couriered to Ndola Arthur Davison Hospital, the central hospital on the Copperbelt region. Here the blood samples are tested for HIV.
The test results of the infants are then sent back to the health centres via a machine that receives information in the form of short messages. The test results will be printed out and the relevant doctor will be able to pass on the diagnosis to the parent.
Director of Public Health in the ministry of health, Victor Munkonka, is optimistic that the programme, once implemented nationally, will reduce the country’s infant mortality rate by more that 50 percent. Mukonka explained that the delay in administering ART to children who are less than 18 months old was contributing to the high death rates of babies in the country.
“We realised that we were losing many babies because of the delay in testing them for HIV, this is mostly because of lack of proper diagnostic machines to detect the virus in infants,” he said. He also noted that those in remote areas had difficulty receiving their results once the blood samples were sent to the central hospital.
Mukonka said the SMS project started in January 2010 at selected health centres located in the rural areas of Zambia’s Copperbelt, Central and Northern provinces.
“We are targeting 10 health centres on the pilot project which will be assessed after six months. During this period, tests that are sent to Arthur Davison from these health centres will be sent back using SMS within a short period of time,” Mukonka said.
Mukonka said the SMS system will save infants’ lives through prompt diagnosis and treatment.
Media Network on Child Rights and Development chairperson Felistus Chipako said the decision by the ministry of health to introduce the SMS to address paediatric HIV is a good development.
Chipako said Zambia has in the recent past struggled to address child mortality, which is among the highest in Sub Saharan Africa. Zambia’s 2008 Demographic Health Survey showed the country’s under-5 mortality rate was 119 deaths per 1,000 live births.
She said the intervention would help treat HIV-positive children in a more prompt manner than has been the case. “The system also calls for intensive counselling for mothers on how to handle the whole thing when given the results,” she added.
Mwamba, however, said that the new method of receiving results was exciting, and that she was looking forward to the service working quickly.
Mwamba was discharged the day after her delivery and was scheduled to return to hospital with her baby for a check-up a week later.
When she returned seven days later, she also received the results of her child’s HIV test.
Her baby girl is HIV-negative.
“I feel relieved that my baby is HIV negative, I spent the past six days pondering about what life would have been like for the little one living with the virus,” Mwamba said.
However, Mwamba was encouraged to bring back her daughter for another HIV test when she is three months, then at six months and finally at 18 months for the last test. This is done to ensure that the baby is truly negative, since Mwamba is breastfeeding her baby.
“I am positive that the project will work if the health staff remain committed to it,” she said.
Mumba said she cannot forget the fear, pain and anxiety in waiting for her baby’s test results.
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Ala, at a glance I thought the lady on the left was Thandiwe Banda. Anyway, the problem we face will not go away with tests and retests. How about promoting alternatives to breast-feeding so that babies like this one remain HIV negative? Oh, I forgot, the idea is to invest in machinery and fancy ways of transmitting messages instantly… 😕
This is really a very encouraging development! I however beileve that she should NOT breast feed her baby or else she is once again putting it at risk.
feeding options are given to the parents by the nursing staff. It is up tp the parent to decide what method she is going to use. Get that. Maybe go for couselling then you will know what takes place during these sessions.
Only a week i dont think you would have the right results in just a week for the baby considering they might still be carrring the mothers anti bodies… so results could be ifi i hope they follow up with more test and not just the 1 sms
was the delay caused by difficulties in sending the results only? i dont think so. the article is not well researched. what about the non availability previously of quicker tests? of course there are issues of testing HIV in chidren. one test reveals that the child was exposed to HIV through the mother but cant confirm the child’s status. another test confirms the child’s status definitively. this test cant be done immediately after birth and the results may not be instant. however, i agree that with more efficiency the process can be hastenned and treatment accessed much earlier. we need to keep up with current developments in care and management. good day
This article is poorly researched and very inaccurate. Chipulukusu Clinic is not a rural health centre, it is located within Ndola city, a mere 10 min drive from the town centre. With this in mind, what kind of courier takes up to 10 weeks to deliver results within the same city? Secondly, I have worked with people in the health sector within Ndola and I know for a fact that there are no sms pilot sites in Ndola, so to the person who conjured this false article; get your facts right, don’t lie to people about programs that the government is just dreaming about.[-(
The lady should just use formulas for her HIV negative baby in order to reduce chances of infecting the baby through breast feeding.
I thought the chances of the baby contracting the virus via breastfeeding is very high as well. What options are they talking about? Bottle feeding in this case should have been the only answer, no option to be given when you know taking the chance would result in the child getting the virus as well. Pa zed ama confusion too much.
I concur with you Chama the only option should be bottle feeding otherwise the child risks being infected and HIV prevalence will continue to go high. We need an HIV free future for the children being born now.
ZED POWER……………………………………..SUPER POWER………………………………………..:)>-
#6 I agree with you, The Realist. When I read the article, I was actually wondering if there is another Chipulukusu Clinic which is located somewhere in Ndola rural. Having lived in Ndola myself, Mushili-Bonanno, I find it strange that it would take as much as 10 weeks to get a message to run to-and-fro between Chipulukusu and Arthur Davison Hospital.
But even if there was in fact a Chipulukusu clinic in Ndola rural, is it realistic to say that a message takes 10 weeks to get back-and-forth between Ndola rural and Ndola urban?
No wonder this article has no name of author associated with it.
Bupe please stop breast-feeding your child, you are risking your child’s life.=;=;[-x[-x[-x
It amazes me that someone who is HIV positive would be so careless to get pregnant in the first place. And she is breastfeeding her baby? Oh for God sakes…she is clueless…this poor baby doesn’t have snowball’s chance in hell!
Realist is wrong about Govt dreaming of this SMS Tech, five sms printers (small printer with sim card) are installed in Mahatma Ghandi, Location and Kasama Urban Clinic all in Kasama and Chawama & Kabundi East all in Chingola. Its not the messages that delay but dry blood samples from the clinic to Arthur Davison, results are sent immediately they are ready to try and put the child on ARVs quickly and save a life
Agreed that the content of the article by the author is misleading, he/ she must have checked with MoH HQ before publication, but this SMS technology is there and piloting started on 11th February in 5 health centres in the country
# 14 and 15 thanks for explaining it clearly. Lets save life through positive technological initiatives . Five clinics great