Dr. Esterina Novello, Chairperson of the South Sudan HIV/AIDS Commission speaks to Eye Radio on June 6, 2021 in Juba, Credit|Charles Wote/Eye Radio

The Chairperson of South Sudan AIDS Commission is encouraging South Sudanese men to accompany their pregnant partners for HIV testing to encourage them to attend regular voluntary counselling and testing.

Dr. Estherina Novelo said this will reduce stigma and ensure that both men and women take an active role in safeguarding their health and that of their unborn children.

Dr. Novelo underscores the necessity of joint participation in testing for couples, noting that few men accompany their pregnant partners for HIV testing.

She said it is important to conduct regular hospital check-ups for pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission and ensure the newborn’s health.

The official further calls on men to actively support their partners during pregnancy, in order to contribute positively to the wellbeing of their families.

“We as the commission have seen a lot in our lives in the years we went through with HIV, either we see the families separated and life becoming hard in the house,” she said, speaking during the World AIDs Day celebration in Terekeka on Thursday.

“This is because any woman who is pregnant should go to the hospital for checkup. Why? Because we want the newborn baby that is coming to be healthy so that the baby should not have HIV.”

“That is why they do test, but how many men who are here have for one day decided to go to hospital with their women and tell her; madam we are going together? How many of you? No man can escorts the woman when she is pregnant.”

Dr. Novelo pointed out that the responsibility for a baby’s health during pregnancy is a shared duty between both partners, not just the woman.

“It is time that you go with that woman as a husband and wife. It is good. When the woman is having that baby, is it the responsibility of that woman alone? No. That responsibility is ours all.”

“Because that baby, that woman did not put it in her womb alone, that baby is mine and yours, so we should all take the responsibility of the baby together.”

“We should go together to the hospital because if tomorrow they test and they found out that, that woman is HIV +, we should not blame that woman as the one who brought the disease.”

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system while Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) occurs at the most advanced stage of infection.

HIV targets the body’s white blood cells, weakening the immune system and making it easier to get sick with diseases like tuberculosis, infections and some cancers.

HIV is spread from the body fluids of an infected person, including blood, breast milk, semen and vaginal fluids. It is not spread by kisses, hugs or sharing food. It can also spread from a mother to her baby.

HIV can be prevented and treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Untreated HIV can progress to AIDS, often after many years.