109 samples taken from babies for HIV tests ‘sitting in lab’ – Health Minister

Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony on Thursday said 109 samples taken from babies for HIV tests were left “sitting in the lab” for months.

Speaking during his 2020 budget presentation in the National Assembly, he said: “this country would have been able to achieve the mother-to-child transmission of HIV but…[the APNU+AFC] Government has the samples for 109 babies that they never tested and because of that those samples are sitting in the lab.”

“Those mothers who are HIV positive don’t even know if their child has HIV or not,” he added.

The Minister criticized his predecessors noting that “you were there before and you failed miserably.”

“We are going to clean up the mess and move this country forward.”