Traditional birth attendants blamed for HIV among newborn babies

The Ugandan Ministry of Health has passed a resolution to phase out traditional birth attendants by 2015 in a bid to meet zero new HIV infections among newborn babies.

Sarah Opendi, the minister in charge of primary health, said the government will not tolerate traditional birth attendants, who are not medically qualified, as they do not have the skills to deliver expectant mothers who are HIV positive, and therefore risk exposing the babies to HIV infection.

Opendi was speaking at a national policy dialogue in Kampala which was organised by the Uganda National Health Consumers’ Organisation in collaboration with the Swedish government. The aim of the dialogue was to come up with a common national position on traditional birth attendants.

HIV-free generation

According to Opendi, Uganda is fighting hard to realise the dream of having an HIV-free generation but this effort may not materialise if traditional birth attendants (TBAs) continue to deliver women.

“With the challenges of HIV and AIDS, we should not continue encouraging TBAs to handle mothers or else we will keep seeing women producing babies with HIV,” she said.

Opendi emphasised how the issue is hindering Uganda from attaining Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6: “We have only 700 days to the deadline of the goals we set to achieve but if we don’t put in more efforts, the dream will never come true.”

Unsafe abortions

With 69 per cent of sexually active women in Uganda not using family planning services, unsafe abortions and teenage pregnancies are other key issues, which are contributing to maternal deaths.

Opendi said: “This unsafe abortion that people do not want to talk about is claiming women’s lives and we are also seeing children having children.”

The executive director of the Uganda National Health Consumers’ Organisation, Robinah Kaitiritimba, said: “This country is bleeding from the death of mothers and babies who are dying in TBAs’ facilities and if we don’t halt them the trend will continue.”

She added that the healthcare system needs to prioritise human resources for health, particularly for maternal health and HIV as the evidence of increased maternal deaths becomes apparent daily.

Faulty statistics

Kaitiritimba noted that there are many deaths and new HIV infections among new babies that go undocumented and that the statistics may be falling short of the exact number.

However Leonard Okello, chief executive officer of the Uhuru Institute for Social Development, said that traditional birth attendants are a reality that will not go away because of many weak loopholes in the health sector.

“With 51 per cent of women delivering through TBAs, how do you expect us to reduce maternal deaths and prevent babies from getting HIV from their mothers?” Okello asked.

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Photo caption: A mother with her daughter at Lean On Me. This is a Kenyan project for young mothers living with HIV and provides support for them during pregnancy and afterwards.