Sanglah expands HIV pregnancy screenings

Sanglah Hospital, the largest medical facility on the island, says it will expand its program offering pregnant women free HIV/AIDS tests to reduce mother-to-child transmission of the virus.

Previously, only pregnant women from high risk groups were offered the test.

“Women who have been married more than once or who display physical symptoms generally associated with HIV/AIDS will be offered the screening test,” Gusti Ayu Erawati, a nurse at the hospital’s maternity ward, said.

The test is currently offered to all pregnant women that visit the ward.

“It is still a voluntary test so the patient will have to give her consent before we will be able to conduct the test,” she said.

Erawati said that the test was critical for preventing an infected mother from passing the virus to her newborn baby.

When pregnant women test positive for HIV/AIDS, healthcare workers will immediately refer them to the hospital’s HIV Mother-to-Child Transmission Prevention (PMTCT) program.  

It will also provide prospective mothers with the knowledge, medical treatment and assistance to their babies will be born free from HIV/AIDS.

An average of three women a month deliver their babies through the program. Twenty-three woman have given birth under the program as of September.

The hospital started the program in late 2005 and reported that 142 pregnant women have participated, and not a single one had passed the disease to their newborns.

“The number of pregnant women joining the program has steadily increased over the years. The highest increase took place in 2010 when the number of participants rose by 37 percent compared to the previous year,” Erawati said.

— JP/Luh De Suriyani