HIV-positive women’s groups bring down numbers in Homa Bay

At Ringa Social Justice Centre, a dozen women, some clutching toddlers, talk about how to increase prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMCT) of HIV from pregnant mothers to unborn infants.

This group in Homa Bay is one of 10 linked with 10 dispensaries and health facilities in Rachuonyo East subcounty.

“We formed these groups when we realised children in the area were still being born with HIV. Out of 10, two tested positive. We wanted zero infection, that is why we came together,” group coordinator Lucy Atela said.

In 2008, the first group was started by a few women, who urged hospitals to offer HIV care without stigma to those taking ARVs.

“We have 10 health facilities around Ringa, each having a group that works closely with medics and experts to ensure we have healthy births,” Atela said.

In the past year, the group had 12 HIV-positive members giving birth to 12 children, all of them HIV-negative.

Atela said they reversed the negative trend by ensuring members adhered to ARV treatment, visited hospitals during pregnancy at least eight times and ensured they had motorbikes to take women to hospital during labour.

“The main problem of mothers skipping medication was caused by hunger, which caused dizziness,” Atela said.

“So we started a merry-go-round to raise money for food.”

A benefactor gave each group Sh10,000 as collateral for loans. Each woman contributed weekly and after a month, they each received a goat or sheep to boost their income.

The group included Jane and Liz (not their real names), who are HIV-positive and gave birth to infected babies, before subsequent births of healthy babies.

Liz, who has three children, said her second born is HIV-positive after she was infected late in her pregnancy. Her third child is healthy.

Jane, a mother of two, said her first born was infected with the virus during breastfeeding. Her second child, born in December last year, is HIV-negative

“I realised I was positive in 2017 and while breastfeeding I had wounds. I struggled with acceptance, stigma and depression, bordering on suicide, before I joined the group,” she said.

Justus Ocholla, Homa Bay health research and innovation officer, said they are counting on such groups after they reduced PMCT prevalence from more than 18 per cent to 5.3 per cent. Their target is 2.5 per cent.

He said almost all pregnant mothers in Homa Bay are tested for the virus at one time or another. The hospital offers traditional birth attendants Sh200 for each birth referral to hospitals.

“We also ensure girls of reproductive age in villages get tested and those testing positive are started on drugs,” Ocholla said.

In 2012, only 48 per cent of births in Homa Bay took place in hospitals, which has increased to 78 per cent.

Ocholla said the county has 323 hospitals, of which 218 are government. Each hospital works with peer volunteers who champion living positively with HIV.

“We also have community health promoters to ensure adherence to drugs regimes and hospital births,” he said.

The county has more than 2,000 such agents. They include Benter Otieno, stationed at Rachuonyo East subcounty hospital.

“We offer a shoulder to lean on and plan to end stigma against those on medication and to ensure adherence, we have frequent contacts with them,” Otieno said.

Leonard Okumu, HIV-Aids coordinator in Kabondo subcounty said the county’s current HIV prevalence is 15.2 per cent ( 2023 estimates), down from over 23 per cent a decade ago. He said new HIV infections have steadily declined from 15,757 in 2013 to 1,495 in 2022.

Data from the Ministry of Health indicate Homa Bay has significantly reduced HIV-related deaths, with 1,260 deaths reported in the 2022 estimates, down from 4,867 in 2013.

About 125,720 people were on treatment as of December 2022.

“We are putting in place measures to ensure the county is resilient in the face of a complex and life-threatening pandemic, we may be poor but we are also giving hope,” he said.