October 4, 2007

Better Care for Kenya’s Positive Moms

A study conducted by the University of Nairobi reveals that Kenya’s HIV-positive mothers are not receiving adequate post-birth health care.

Published in the October 1 Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, the study examined 535 positive mothers and found that many of them suffered from upper respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, pneumonia and tuberculosis during the two-year period after giving birth. While death rates at the one- and two-year mark were 1.9 and 4.8 percent respectively, only 2 percent of these women reported receiving hospital care at the two-year mark.

Figures are higher than those of HIV-negative mothers due to post-partum weakened immune systems.