adminPatient Sibanda Chronicle Reporter
HIV testing for newborn babies has been decentralised with Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo acquiring its first ever HIV laboratory likely to reduce child mortality rate by 30 percent.
The development will see newborn babies from Matabeleland region getting their HIV test results in two weeks compared to the six months waiting period which led to many deaths.
The $200,000 HIV laboratory made available courtesy of World Vision was officially opened at Mpilo Central Hospital last week.
Mpilo director for laboratory services, Douglas Mangwanya said Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) was centralised in Harare and it was a challenge to send samples there.
“It was frustrating to send samples and get results after six months. Some patients died during the waiting period,” said Mangwanya.
“We’re happy that we’ll now get results faster so we’re able to contain HIV.
“We’ll now be able to do viral load testing which we couldn’t manage before.”
He said the much-needed viral load testing would increase the people who know their status in 2020 by 90 percent.
In his speech read on his behalf by Minister of State for provincial affairs in Bulawayo, Cde Nomthandazo Eunice Moyo, Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa applauded World Vision for joining forces with the government to fight child deaths.
“We’re grateful to World Vision and Australia Aid who helped us acquire the state of the art HIV lab. The delay had a negative impact on health service delivery as it delayed proper medical diagnosis,” said Dr Parirenyatwa.
“This sometimes resulted in some unnecessary prolonged hospitalisation and other HIV related complications. This will greatly improve patient care and management and ensure no child dies unnecessarily from causes that may be managed.”
World Vision national director, Edward Brown said the laboratory included a powerful Perkins generator.
His organisation was funded by Australia Aid through Matabeleland South health and livelihoods program which seeks to improve the health of 80,000 people through improved maternal, newborn and child health practices.
The service would be accessed free of charge, said Brown.
Online Reporter