Pregnant women ignoring Voluntary Counselling and Testing

Sekondi, Sept 27, GNA - Elisabeth Sefah, a Senior Staff Midwife of the Effia Nkwanta Hospital, said the Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) for HIV among pregnant women could safeguard the unborn baby.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after a health talk at the Effia Nkwanta Hospital on Tuesday, she said many pregnant women were afraid to undergo VCT as part of their routine visit to the hospital.

Ms. Sefah said the VCT could ease their anxiety and enable them to take good care of themselves, the unborn baby and the rest of the family.

She told the pregnant women that people living with HIV needed care, love and compassion and should not be ignored, abused or kept indoors.

"They have not yet developed AIDS and could be active and contribute towards the upkeep of the home," she stressed.

Ms. Sefah told them that drugs were readily available that could prevent the transmission of the HIV virus from mother to the unborn baby and urged the women to take advantage of the drug.

She advised women not to rush to their mother's homes after delivery since they could expose their husbands to sexually transmitted diseases and infections (STD/Is).