Hospital counsels 31, 331 pregnant women against HIV

The Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano, yesterday said a total of 2, 228 pregnant women tested HIV positive out of the 31, 331 screened in 2013.
Dr Musa Babashani, the hospital’s HIV/AIDS Project Coordinator, disclosed this during a news conference yesterday in Kano.
“20, 544 infants born to HIV infected mothers from parts of this region have been tested for HIV infection with 1, 993 HIV positive babies, Babashani said.
The coordinator said that 12, 050 patients were also placed on anti-retroviral therapy (ART) at the hospital.
“113 patients have so far benefitted from TB culture services and 44 patients have accessed the Line Probe Assay (LPA),’’ he added.
He said the low figure was as a result of the improved laboratory infrastructure provided at the hospital under a programme run by the Federal and the United States Governments.
“This is to curtail the spread of the virus in the Northwest region and cater for other opportunistic diseases associated with it,’’ the coordinator said.
Babashani said the hospital had been offering counselling services to those living with HIV/AIDS, and advised residents to adopt healthy sexual habits to avoid contracting the disease. (NAN)