Men encouraged to accompany partners for prenatal check-up

Men have been exhorted to accompany their partners for prenatal check-up in order to reduce HIV-related maternal and child morbidity rate in the country.

The call was made recently by the Country Director of Clinton Health Access Initiative, CHAI, Dr. Divine Nzuobontane, during a media advocacy workshop that brought together journalists in Yaounde.

Presenting the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission, PMTCT, Extension Programme for the Centre Region, Dr. Nzuobontane stated that the 7,900 new pediatric infections that happen each year could be prevented, if men accompany their partners for prenatal testing. It was revealed that 33,000 children are living with HIV, while 5,600 children are on Anti-Retroviral, ARV, drugs in the Centre Region.

The CHAI Cameroon Director stated that all of these can be avoided if people go for prenatal testing.

“The problem comes when people don’t go for testing. A man needs to accompany his wife, at least, two or three times, to know the test results,” Nzuobontane said, while urging men to eradicate the culture of ignorance and stigmitisation where they regard prenatal check-up as solely a woman’s affair.

He said knowing the test results of a partner is one strategy that can eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission and protect the family. He called for more communication on the prevention of PMTCT.

He also urged journalists to increase the percentage of women attending Antenatal Care, ANC, increase the number of men accompanying their partners for check up and to intensify the number of male partners tested for HIV through their media reports.

Nzuobontane maintained that this can be possible if the media include themes pertaining to PMTCT and ANC into their daily programmes, provide space for interviews and articles relevant to PMTCT and ANC, air debate topics relevant to PMTCT and ANC during TV and radio health programmes and cover events that showcase PMTCT and ANC in the Cameroon.

The PMTCT Extension Programme, the Country Director said, targets three categories of persons: pregnant women who were detected positive and must be followed up; pregnant women who have at least three months of pregnancy and who have never been to antenatal consultation; partners of women who need to protect their family by accompanying their partners for checkups.

CHAI was founded in 2002 by the former United States President, Bill Clinton, with a goal to help save the lives of millions of people living with HIV/AIDS in the developing world by dramatically scaling up antiretroviral treatment.