Sexually transmitted infections have been on the increase amongst pregnant mothers in Fiji in the last 14 years.
Head of Department of the Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission of HIV, Dr Litia Narube whose department was formed mainly to protect the mothers and children, said the statistics are raising a major concern.
Dr Narube added that the number of mothers who choose to have HIV tests when they come for clinics is also low.
She said the test numbers are slowly increasing but it has been revealed that from the 8,000 births at CWM annually, only 14 mothers choose to have HIV tests.
Once a mother is detected with HIV, they start giving drugs at 28 weeks into pregnancy until 1 week after birth.
However, since the number of affected mothers has increased, the World Health Organization agreed in 2006 for STI clinics to start as early as 12 weeks or 3 months into pregnancy.
The main reason is because three tests are needed to confirm that one is positive with HIV.
Dr Narube confirmed that apart from their department in Suva, they have just opened an office in Labasa and there are plans to have an office in the West.
Story by: Selina Navuso
