HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women rises

Swaziland's government said it would act urgently to reverse the rising HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women, currently at 42.6 percent according to the latest sentinel survey. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare highlighted the prevalence rate among pregnant women, up from 38.6 percent in 2002, as a key area of concern. Dr David Okello, the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Swaziland, told PlusNews that "it has serious implications for HIV prevalence in the children to be born". "The government needs to move fast to ensure universal access to the programme on prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). The government also needs to gear up for a massive effort to provide antiretroviral treatment ... for AIDS cases," Okello said. "The challenge here relates to preventing premature deaths of AIDS patients - this will slow down the already daunting problem of orphanhood in the country, and will maximise the socioeconomic benefits of such an initiative." The ministry of health said in a statement that the preliminary findings of Swaziland's 9th HIV sero-prevalence survey, conducted in 2004 among women attending antenatal care services, revealed "signs of hope as well as indications of huge challenges ahead". "HIV prevalence measured in the 15 to 19-year-olds in the survey declined from 32.5 percent in 2002 to 29.3 percent in 2004 - decline in HIV prevalence in this age group usually indicates a decrease in new infections," said the ministry. "In addition, the representation of teenagers in the survey sample declined from 30 percent to 24 percent. This decline in teenage pregnancy suggests that increasing numbers of teenagers are either abstaining or practicing safe sex," the ministry noted. "When combined with a 2003 rural sample survey, which found signs of 'generational behavioural change' and much lower HIV prevalence in the 15 to 18-year-olds, these results provide important signs of hope that Swaziland is indeed turning the corner in its fight against HIV and AIDS." Okello agreed with the ministry's interpretation of the survey findings. "We believe that there is something positive happening in the youth ... The drop in HIV prevalence among pregnant women in this age group attending antenatal clinics should be an encouragement to health workers and all those involved in the campaign for behavioural change," Okello said. The country should therefore "put more effort into social mobilisation in the communities and in households to keep the youth free of HIV infection ... the country must preach abstinence and delayed sexual debut among the youth", he urged. Although the survey showed a decrease in prevalence among the youth, "at the same time, the survey found a continuing rise in HIV prevalence in all other age groups" and that "the hardest hit are those aged 25 to 29 years, where prevalence was 56 percent", the ministry pointed out. "These numbers make clear the huge challenges Swaziland faces to scale up its HIV and AIDS response. The country must act urgently to reverse these rising trends of HIV prevalence among pregnant women, and to protect the unborn children from infection, as well as reach both women and men with care and treatment," the ministry added. Another key challenge would be "protecting the most vulnerable members of the population, especially children who have lost parents, and the elderly who have lost children, whom they depended upon".