Imphal, April 23: Inspite of the best efforts being made to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child, successfully implementation of the Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission in Manipur has taken a back seat due to various factors including lack of sensitivity of the issue on the part of the health care personnel as well as the patients themselves.

It is in against this backdrop that a one-day sensitisation programme on Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) for the counsellors and paramedics working in the field of HIV/AIDS was held at the conference hall of Hotel Nirmala here today.

Enlightening on the current scenario of implementing PPTCT programme in Manipur during the workshop as one of the resource persons, UNICEF consultant Dr Priyokumar informed that so far 25 PPTCT centres including five in the private hospitals have been set up and arrangements are being made to set up another 34 centres in different parts of the State very soon.

Dr Priyokumar observed that as the number of pregnant women coming to the health institutions under the Government of Manipur for delivery cases is comparatively low due to lack of adequate health care facilities in these health institutions, a serious handicap is being faced in successful implementation of the PPTCT programme.

Speaking on the issue of ante-natal management of HIV infected women, in-charge of PPTCT centre of JN Hospital Dr Nabakanta Singh explained PPTCT is a programme for prevention of HIV transmission from a HIV positive mother to her child.

On the constraints and achievements in implementation of the PPTCT programme in Manipur, Rani Devi, who is a staff nurse in the PPTCT centre of RIMS Hospital observed that apart from discriminating themselves, HIV positive pregnant women who come to receive the PPTCT facilities at the centre sometimes try to mislead the doctors and nurses by giving false name and identity.

Besides there are also cases of discrimination of the patients by the attending doctors, nurses and attendants, she said, adding that because of these reasons, the participation of the HIV positive women in the implementation of PPTCT is not satisfactory in Manipur.

In order to revolve these difficulties, there is the need to follow the guidelines laid down for implementation of PPTCT judiciously along with stepping up advocacy campaign to spread awareness among the people.

There is also the need to sensitise the health care providers in this regard along with conducting training on treatment facilities for them, Rani pointed out.

Staff Nurse of JN Hospital Radharani Devi also spoke on the topic of 'Mother and infant care package during labour, child birth and post-partum' during the workshop.

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