Testing of HIV-positive mothers still slow

Around 280 expectant mothers have been tested for HIV in Zimbabwe's Masvingo province, local newspaper The Herald reported on Thursday. However, the provincial medical director, Dr Tapiwa Magure, said Masvingo was still lagging behind other provinces in implementing the programme for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. "We started implementing our PMTCT programme later than other provinces because various training sessions had to be conducted for medical staff," Magure said. He said despite the province having enough stock of the antiretroviral drug, Nevirapine, for the next five years, Zimbabwe's shortage of foreign currency was prohibiting the importing and processing of other HIV/AIDS drugs. Research shows that Nevirapine reduces the chance of a pregnant mother passing the HI virus on to her unborn child.