Over 100 HIV test samples from babies left in lab for over a year – Minister Anthony
Sep 20, 2020 , Source - Kaieteur News Online - https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...ar-minister-anthony/
For months now, more than 100 HIV tests taken from newborns were left sitting without being processed.
Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony
This was revealed by Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, during his 2020 Budget debate last week.
Explaining more about that shocking disclosure, the minister told Kaieteur News last evening that he discovered that the samples have been sitting in the lab for over a year and no efforts were made to have tests run on them.
The test samples are usually done on babies born to HIV-positive mothers to confirm whether or not they may be carrying the virus.
Anthony explained that due to the previous administration’s inability to carry out the tests, they have hampered mothers and the new government from knowing the status of those children- something that is a major concern for the parents and the health system.
Guyana was expected to be evaluated this year to see whether it met the criteria for elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
The Minister stated that the abandonment of the samples has hampered this evaluation from being executed.
Despite the inconvenience, the Minister assured that the Ministry of Health (MOH) will be working assiduously to see what can be done to rectify the issue.
He stated that a technical team will be conducting assessments to see if the samples can still be tested.
He further added that the government will have to re-engage with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) for future evaluations and talks about the initiative.
Guyana was listed among 13 Caribbean territories, in 2014 that were on track to be certified as having eliminated the transmission of HIV from mothers to their children in 2014.
Guyana was able to obtain that certification by introducing anti-retroviral medicines to women during their pregnancies.
Since 2010, Latin American and Caribbean countries, Guyana included, have been working to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis as public health problems through the Strategy and Plan of Action for Elimination of Mother-to-child Transmission (EMTCT) of HIV and Congenital Syphilis, coordinated by PAHO.
Further, in 2017, The Ministry of Health officially asserted that the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMCTC) program will be used to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Guyana.
The announcement was made by former Minister of Health, Dr. Karen Cummings.
The program ensured that all mothers enrolling in Antenatal Clinics (ANC) are offered the HIV test as part of their care.
She also announced that rapid testing of ANC mothers will also be done on the labour and post-natal wards for those mothers who did not have HIV testing done.
