By Agwanda Powerman

A three year campaign to virtually eliminate transmission of HIV from mother to child estimated to cost Sh. 240 million has been launched in Kisumu.

Minister for public health and sanitation Beth Mugo says the new programme dubbed Kata Shauri Tulinde Kizazi will create awareness about interventions for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV.

Mugo says the initiative being spearheaded by her ministry and UNICEF will also advocate for male involvement in HIV testing and supporting uptake of services.

The minister says that it is estimated that about 100,000 HIV positive women get pregnant in the country annually resulting to between 30,000 to 50,000 infants getting infected with HIV.

The minister further says that according to latest estimates, there are about 2.5 million children living with HIV globally of whom 117,000 are in Kenya.

She says that it is notable that most HIV infections in children occur among HIV positive pregnant mothers who do not attend antenatal clinic at all.

Mugo says that by focusing on the elimination of the transmission, the government can reduce the current rate of pediatric HIV infections of 10-15 percent by 50 percent by the end of the year.

Kata Shauri initiative will increase the uptake of services for preventing mother to child transmission of HIV and save mothers and children.

The campaign will be addressing stigma, misconceptions about risks and benefits of breastfeeding, availability and cost of services to disclosure of HIV status to partners.

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