11 Apr 2019

The Ministry of Health and Wellness will, starting from next month, test children 18 months and above for HIV.

This initiative would be aimed at ensuring good health care for children.

Other initiatives already on offer included provision of Vitamin A pill to prevent blindness in children and vaccinations against polio and other sicknesses.

Speaking during a Kgotla meeting addressed by Lobatse mayor, Ms Malebogo Kruger, at Maokaneng Customary Court on April 9, Lobatse Health Management Team (DHMT) community health nurse, Ms Poni Ramogaladi said they used to test children whose parents were HIV positive at the time of pregnancy.

However, Ms Ramogaladi explained that other children were now going to be tested regardless of their parents’ HIV status.

She added that starting from May this year, whenever parents bring their children for monthly child welfare care, parents would be informed about the initiative in order to help detect whether children could be HIV+ or not early.

She explained that only five nurses in the Southern District had been trained to conduct tests on children, therefore an arrangement would be made to spread them between clinics in the district.

“Because we have many clinics and hospitals in our district, there will be an arrangement on how these few nurses will be working,” she said.

The Lobatse DHMT coordinator for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) and Integrated Health Services, Ms Doreen Mofaladi said they would also start an initiative called Integrated Health Services.

Ms Mofaladi explained that the initiative was aimed at helping people avoid going to clinics or hospitals repeatedly by attending to most of their medical needs at the same time. ENDS