A 58-YEAR-OLD HIV-positive mother from Atteridgeville in Tshwane has been living with the virus for 10 years.
But during the Covid-19 pandemic, she learnt that her six-year-old daughter was also infected with the virus.
Discovering her daughter's HIV status
The woman said she found out about her daughter’s ill health during Covid-19 when they had to get vaccinated.
She said:
She suspects that HIV transmission may have occurred during breastfeeding as she breastfed her daughter until the age of two.
“I always knew about my status and when I was pregnant, I was given medication to prevent the mother and baby transmission. However, I breastfed until she reached two years,” she said.
Breastfeeding and HIV transmission explained
Nonhlanhla Mazaleni, the founder and director of Tholulwazi Phakathi, an organisation that supports adolescents and young adults living with HIV, told Daily Sun that the benefits of taking ARVs every day is that they help to suppress the (viral load) the amount of HIV in the blood.
“When the virus is suppressed, it cannot be passed on to a sexual partner, it cannot be passed on to an unborn baby during pregnancy, during delivery and during breastfeeding. At Tholulwazi Phakathi we are supported by Department of Health and South African Aids council (SANAC) in promoting U=U.U=U means Undetectable =Untransmittable,” she said.
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Mazaleni said achieving a suppressed or undetectable viral load typically takes up to six months of continuous ARV use.
Furthermore, she highlighted the following points:
- After a baby is born, they receive nevirapine.
- Mothers are provided with nevirapine to administer to their babies for a period of six weeks.
- In cases where the mother has a high HIV viral load, nevirapine and AZT may be given to the baby. Nevirapine serves to combat any HIV present in the baby's bloodstream.
Mazaleni emphasised that HIV-positive mothers can safely breastfeed their babies for up to two years without transmitting the virus.
Her daughter's health challenges
There was a time when the woman struggled to get medication for her daughter.
She told the Daily Sun that while visiting Phomolong Clinic in October 2023, she was allegedly turned away and was told that there was no medication.
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The woman said she was told the medication is out of stock and couldn’t be delivered due to protests that were taking place in Tshwane at the time.
She said when she went back later in the week, that’s when she was helped as she had seen the medication being delivered - which proved that the clinic was indeed out of stock.
She said this went as far as affecting her daughter’s health and weight.
She said she only received medication four days after she had been repeatedly going to the clinic, and this time, she was given a different batch.
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“My daughter couldn’t go to school for four days because she didn’t receive her medication at the clinic. My daughter was so weak, and she was even shaking,” the woman explained.
When Daily Sun enquired with the City of Tshwane's health department, the city’s spokesman Selby Bokaba said according to the city’s Primary Health Care Unit, the said clinic has all the ARV items on the formulary (list).
Struggles of an unemployed mother
The struggling mother, who is currently unemployed, relies on her daughter's grant to make ends meet.
“Yesterday I made her lunch of uphuthu namasi and she came back crying saying other learners were laughing at her. We are struggling. It’s tough. We need help,” she said, adding they were also in need of shelter.
