“(It is about) keeping mothers alive focusing on scaling up comprehensive PMCT that begins with activities targeted at promoting HIV-negative men and women to remain negative and reduce new infections or HIV incidence by 50% by 2015,” she said.
Mushavi said the conference would also address the reproductive health and family planning needs of HIV-positive women and those that are breastfeeding. She said this would be done to ensure that women fall pregnant when they are ready.
“There has been a lot of debate on mothers who are HIV-positive and breastfeeding,” she said. “We are going to address such issues so as to equip mothers on how they can ensure safer breastfeeding,” she said.
The conference is also expected to identify challenges and gaps in PMTC as well as identifying ways in which they can be dealt with. Mushavi said there was no reason for children to be born HIV- positive when treatment was readily available.
The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is organising the conference with help from the National Aids Council and Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation.The first conference that was organised in 2004 focused on general issues on HIV and Aids.
Zimbabwe used to have one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world but recent research has shown that it has fallen from 29% in 1997 to 16% in 2007.
The prevalence rate is now estimated at over 14% and the fall is the largest seen anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa.
