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*5 000 Zimbabwean Babies Infected With HIV In 2021*

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Nearly 5 000 babies were infected with HIV in 2021 due to the mothers’ unwillingness to get antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Addressing journalists at a National Aids Council media training workshop in Chinhoyi on Friday, Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) Deputy PMTCT and Paediatric HIV Care and Treatment Coordinator, Dr Precious Andifasi said 4 750 babies got infected during pregnancy and breastfeeding last year alone. She said:

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> As a program, we collect some data every year just to try and see where the new infections are coming from. So, for 2021, we had about 4 785 new infections. So, these are babies that had HIV transmitted from their mothers.

Fundira said during pregnancy, 1 345 women did not receive Antiretroviral therapy, and 445 during pregnancy and this resulted in babies getting infected.

She said stigma, discrimination and denial are some of the barriers to accessing PMTCT services. She said:

> Another one of our interventions is to keep the women who are negative, negative. If we look at the barriers to accessing PMTCT services, we can see that stigma, discrimination and denial are significant barriers.

> Stigma around people still thinking that HIV only infects those who are immoral or sexually deviant. That they must not be doing something right.

> Denial. Not accepting the risk of contracting HIV applies to them. And also shunning those who are infected or perceived to be at risk.

Fundira added that as part of their initiatives to prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to their children, they are testing every six months if the mother is seroconverted.

She also said 46 percent of those who tested positive in Ante Natal Clinics were adolescent girls and young women under 30. | Health Times

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