POVERTY in Dar es Salaam has been cited as the biggest stumbling block in ensuring that pregnant women get access to services for the prevention of mother to child HIV transmission.

The Management and Development for Health (MDH) Chief Executive Officer, Dr Chalamilla Guerino, said yesterday during the opening of a care and treatment centre in Vingunguti area in Ilala District, that poverty causes fewer women to visit clinics when pregnant.

"Thanks to the availability of centres in Dar es Salaam that have been opened since our programme began in 2004, 94 per cent of women have antenatal visits to the clinic at least once, but statistics also show that only 62 per cent of them go the required four times," he said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that for the full life-saving potential that antenatal care visits promises for women and babies, four visits providing essential evidence-based interventions - a package often called "focused antenatal care," are required.

Dr Guerino explained that current statistics also showed that of the 85 per cent of pregnant women in Dar es Salaam who tested for HIV/AIDS, only 68 per cent of them get access to ARVs. "These statistics clearly show that there is big deficit among those with access to these services and we hope that this new care and treatment centre will help bridge this gaping gap," he said.

MDH is a public health organisation based in Dar es Salaam and provides technical and financial support in provision of quality HIV care and treatment services to 50 health facilities in the region. The support is funded by the financial support from the US government, president's emergency fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Dr Guerino explained that the Vingunguti centre, that cost 150m/-, was a gift from the American people through the US PEPFAR, in collaboration with Tanzania and that direct support for the clinic was based on a partnership between the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and MDH.

'This modern centre will provide HIV testing, counselling and treatment services to more than 79,000 residents of Dar es Salaam," he said. Former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi opened the new building and launched a campaign for Dar es Salaam to be HIV free to future generations.

He said that the centre brought new hope to over 80,000 inhabitants of the area and was a godsend to the people of Dar es Salaam, taking into consideration that it is among the 3 highest regions with an estimated HIV prevalence of 9.3 per cent.

"I am told that at the moment, there are more than 11,000 patients with HIV enrolled for care and treatment and about 70,000 are initiated with ARVs in 50 health facilities benefiting from MDH support, this is a remarkable achievement that we should all be proud of," he said.

Mr Mwinyi said that it was his hope that this newly constructed clinic would bring convenient services to more people living with HIV and reduce congestion at the bigger treatment clinics, reduce long waiting hours and create a friendlier atmosphere for patients as well as to the health care workers.

He urged the whole community, especially men in Dar es Salaam, to be more responsible in providing support to their loved ones to attend all recommended antenatal clinic visits. "There is need to encourage more people to get tested for HIV with their spouses and support pregnant and breast-feeding women to protect their babies from acquiring the infection," he said.

Giving his testimony, Mr Roger Nzota, a person living with HIV proclaimed that Tanzania had come a long way in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Mr Nzota said that in 1998, when he and his wife tested positive, there were no ARVs but all that changed in 2004 when the MDH programme began.

"Back then, we constantly lived in stigma and discrimination and had no hope, but access to ARVs and the package for prevention of mother to child HIV transmission has enabled us to have two healthy children and live without fear," he said. He urged more people in Vingunguti and Dar es Salaam to come out and get tested especially men because, without them, the dream of having a HIV/AIDS free generation won't be fulfilled.