Gulu 

The rate at which unborn children are contracting HIV virus from their mothers during birth is still very high in Gulu, health officials have warned.

 

According to Rose Jenny Okilangole, the Assistant Gulu District Health Officer in charge of maternal health, the problem is amplified by expectant mothers who shun hospitals for home delivery of their babies without accessing medical services.

She made the statement while presenting the Maternal and Child Health Report covering the period April 2010- March 2012 from Gulu district council hall on, as part of the Quarterly Review meeting organized by Child Fund Uganda on Mother and Child Health (MCH).

 

She pointed out that there were a total of 1,922 mothers who gave birth to children with the HIV virus and the 1,257 who received ARVs were negative.

 

“We still have high rate of HIV virus transfer from mother to child during birth due to low turn up of maternal services at the health centres by the mothers,” Okilangole said.

 

She added some 58 maternal deaths registered in that period and wondered why women still die during child birth when the deaths are preventable.

 

She attributed the deaths to the sorry state of health centres across the country and urged the government to do more improve maternal facilities and HIV/AIDS testing kits, plus also offer incentives to train and retain more doctors and midwifes at government health centres.

 

She also called upon the government to step up its efforts in recruiting more health workers at the grass root levels, if the its development goal of ending maternal death by 2016 is to be achievable.