HIV free babies infected in adolescence

“PMTCT has put a decline to the number of infections on children born with HIV but now they get infected with the virus in their adolescence,” she said.  Rabantheng was making a presentation at the National Training on Comprehensive Sexuality Education workshop held in Francistown this week. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) hosted the workshop.

Rabantheng said the greatest challenge in thwarting new infections is that some young people find it difficult to negotiate safe sexual habits. “They can’t stand up for themselves and say they aren’t ready for sexual activity,” she said, adding that the girl child is affected more than boys.   She indicated that they had observed another trend where teenage girls are HIV negative in their first pregnancy, but test positive in their second or third pregnancies. “This could be largely because when they come for registration of their first pregnancies we do not offer them sufficient counselling nor emphasise the importance of maintaining their HIV status,” she said.