Abandoned Kid at Abuja varsity tests HIV-positive
From Bethrand Nwankwo, Abuja
A THREE-DAY old baby who was tested HIV-positive was recently picked up behind the female hostel of the University of Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The baby is now in the care of the management of Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital (GSH) in the (FCT).
The incident happened just at the time the United States Global Aids Coordinator, Randall Tobias who visited the country to discuss President George Bush's Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS in support of Nigeria paid a visit to the hospital.
Sources at the hospital told The Guardian that the mother of the baby was yet to be found.
When The Guardian asked a nurse (names withheld) how they found the baby, she said that some people, possibly students from the schools informed the hospital's authorities about the incident and they went and picked up the baby to save its life.
She told The Guardian that the first thing they did was to test the little baby.
The test according to the source, revealed that the three-day old baby was HIV-positive.
The nurse stated that the child was HIV-positive because the supposed mother must have been HIV-positive also and must have been transmitted to the little baby through what she described as Mother-To-Child-Transmission (MTCT).
When The Guardian sought to know whether there was any hope of survival for the little child, she stated that it was "very minimal".
The source also revealed that the management of the hospital could not take care of the baby, stating that very soon the child would be taken to government welfare's office which would take adequate care of the child since the mother was nowhere to be found.
She blamed the incident on ignorance on the part of the mother of the child.
According to her, the mother could still be HIV-positive without transmitting the virus to the child if she had been knowledgeable enough and avail herself of the necessary treatment.
The nurse stated that there were a lot of cases where a HIV-positive mother gave birth to non-HIV positive children because adequate treatment was given.
She advised all pregnant mothers to go for HIV/AIDS test so that they could start treating themselves to prevent mother-To-Child-Transmission (MTCT) of the dreaded disease.
