Recommendations of the Eleventh Annual Conference

Conclusions and Recommendations

The three-day annual conference was a golden opportunity for many of the members, to express their opinion about PMTCT of HIV. The focus of all the deliberations was integration of PMTCT to RH services. Every speaker stressed the issue of integration. Experts in the field also tried to show to the participants the very close similarity of the various programs of both SMP and PMTCT of HIV. The negative impact of HIV/ AIDS on the other RH services was also given emphasis. It was disclosed that as a result of the shift of focus to HIV/AIDS many maternal and child health services are  being very much  neglected. Integration of HIV/AIDS activity with maternal health is said to be the way to over come such neglect and PMTCT is said to be the route to integrate these two vital activities. The Ethiopian scenario was also reported to be nothing different from other sub Saharan African countries. Ethiopia is very much affected by the pandemic and efforts have been made to curb the situation. Although delayed, the government has already began to exert a concerted effort and established the HIV/AIDS secretariat to coordinate and spearhead all the activities related to HIV/AIDS. Despite all these efforts and activities the situation in the country still remained to be grieve and young adults including pregnant mothers and their unborn babies continued to be infected. One of the means to save the generation from extinction is to provide quality PMTCT services as a part and parcel of the already existing maternal and child health services. At present PMTCT activities in the country are in their pilot stage and are not accessed by many who are in need of them and hence they need to be strengthened and scaled up in order to save the lives of many unborn babies. After assessing carefully the prevailing situation in the country as far as PMTCT of HIV/AIDS is concerned, the conference passed the following recommendation:

1.  PMTCT and SMP programs have been run in the country separately. The two programs should be integrated and the Ministry of Health in collaboration with civil societies like ESOG should strengthen its effort to this end. In the effort to strengthen theses two activities, ESOG should play a pivotal role.
2. So far, PMTCT of HIV in Ethiopia has been undergoing as a donor driven pilot project. It is, however, ESOG’s strong conviction that there have been enough international and national experiences in the area that are enough evidences to dictate the importance of scaling it up into a national program. Hence, ESOG with other parties, specially, the Ministry of Health should work to materialize this lofty task.
3.  ESOG’s involvement in PMTCT should include

a)      Research

b)      Training in terms of capacity building of the country’s institutions which provide maternal health services. The training should mainly focus on training of trainers.

c)      Advocacy

d) Production of IEC /BCC materials

4. ESOG should try its level best to protect health care providers from occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens including HIV infections.
5. ESOG should be involved in the planning, designing and execution of PMTCT activities at the national level by involving itself in national committees and task forces.
6. ESOG should make efforts to scale up PMTCT activities in the country by involving itself in the national committees and task force.
7. ESOG must abruptly start mainstreaming PMTCT into the various projects of the society.
8. ESOG should work very closely with NGO’s and the Ministry of Health to materialize the integration of PMTCT into existing SMP.
9. ESOG should promote Quality of Care to ensure proper utilization of Reproductive Health Services.