NEW YORK, United States of America, October 19, 2015/APO (African Press Organization)/ —
WHAT: Ministry of Health in collaboration with UNICEF and World Health Organisation will organize a three day Regional Interagency Task Team meeting on the Prevention and Treatment of HIV Infection in Pregnant Women, Mothers and Children (IATT). The meeting will bring together participants from 15 countries to deliberate and share experiences on the Prevention of Mother to Child (PMTCT) Option B+ programme.
WHEN: 20-23 October, 2015 from 09:00am to 05:00pm
WHERE: Speke Resort Munyonyo, Albert Conference Hall.
WHO: Hon. Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye, Minister of Health, will be the Guest of Honour
WHY: Many countries continue to achieve high coverages of HIV testing among pregnant women but initiation of the infected women on efficacious ARVs plus retention of those women on care and treatment, continues to pose a major challenge. While 92 per cent of pregnant women living with HIV and breastfeeding women access ARVs, through the PMTCT Option B+ programme, less than 40 per cent of the identified HIV infected children have been initiated on treatment. More still needs to be done if Uganda is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 3 target of eradicating HIV by 2030. The meeting therefore is an opportunity to learn from well performing countries and also build capacity of other countries on enhanced monitoring approaches that will help manage the infections.
The IATT Option B+ Monitoring and Evaluation Framework will also be disseminated at the meeting.
