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At least 70 HIV/Aids Exposed Infants (HEI) who had been put on treatment and their mothers on a mentorship programme in Kwale County have graduated with most of them being declared free from the virus.
The mentorship programme was established in 2016 to stem the tide of pregnant HIV-positive women.
They were placed on treatment to Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission of the virus (PMTCT).
Twenty-four mothers aged 35 and below in Kwale County have so far been recruited to the programme.
The programme focuses on ensuring vulnerable children receive good nutrition and medication.
The National AIDS Control Council 2018 report shows 4.8 per cent of Kenyans are HIV positive. This translates to about 1.34 million Kenyans who are living with HIV.
The programme aims at mentoring mothers who are HIV positive to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus(PMTCT).
According to Kwale County since 2016, more than 597 HIV exposed infants have turned out to be HIV negative.
According to Avert.org, PMTCT programmes provide a range of services to women and infants. These includes preventing HIV infections among women of reproductive age (15–49 years), preventing unwanted pregnancies among women living with HIV, and providing women living with HIV with lifelong ART to maintain their health and prevent transmission during pregnancy, labour and breastfeeding.
PMTCT programmes also support safe childbirth practices and appropriate infant feeding, as well as providing infants exposed to HIV with virological testing after birth and during the breastfeeding period, ART for prevention and effective treatment.
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