A group of mothers living with HIV, under the Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE) initiative, recently came together to celebrate and testify about the successes and general impact of the project on their lives.
The event took place on Sunday at the Katutura Intermediate Hospital.
“The TCE project has been helping me since I had my first child. This is now my second baby and they are both negative,” said Martha Mbasuva (43).
She said the project has been instrumental in educating and teaching mothers how to take care of themselves and their children without exposing them to the virus.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the team on the ground for never giving up on us, for always being there to encourage us to diligently take our medication,” she said.
TCE community field officer Aina Iita said it has been a joy to be part of the initiative and to be able to instil hope in the HIV positive mothers.
“My aim is to support all my HIV-positive mothers throughout pregnancy until birth and from birth until the baby turns 18 months,” said Iita.
Iita said she is responsible for monitoring the mother’s viral load and also for carrying out an early infant diagnosis to ensure that the baby is tested regularly, as per the requirement of the hospital.
“The main aim is to ensure that the baby remains HIV negative after a period of 18 months, though they are born by an HIV-positive mother.”
According to Iita, working within the community has been easy thus far, as the health ministry has systems in place to guide their conduct. However, this does not entirely eliminate all challenges.
“One of the major challenges we experience with mothers is communication. We have had cases where mothers have relocated to different towns without informing us,” she said.
According to Iita, this is a serious concern as it compromises the entire monitoring process.
“We advise mothers to always check with us, to notify us when they have intentions to travel in order for us to link them to our offices in the respective regions,” she said.
“We have offices in all 14 regions in the country and thus urge all mothers who form part of our programme to get in touch with us when they have intentions to travel.”
Hambelela Indongo (24), one of the mothers assisted by the TCE initiative, is the mother of three boys who have not been exposed to the virus.
“I met the TCE team before I knew my HIV status and before I even knew I was pregnant. They encouraged me to go get tested and that was when I found out that I was HIV positive,” she said.
According to her, the TCE team has been helpful and supportive in guiding her throughout all her pregnancies and helping ensure her babies were not exposed to the virus.
The group was joined by Dr John Nkengasong, who is the US global AIDS coordinator. Nkengasong is visiting Namibia to celebrate some of the milestones and achievements of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar) in Namibia.
Part of Nkengasong’s visit is to celebrate Pepfar’s 20 years in existence globally and 18 years in Namibia.
“It is remarkable to see the great groundwork here in Namibia, and I strongly encourage the team to continue in good faith,” he said.
Nkengasong was accompanied by health executive director Ben Nangombe.
