Mother to Child Transmission
THE GOAL: Eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015, and keep mothers alive and healthy. Ambitious yet achievable, this goal emerged from the strategic planning sessions at the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS in June 2011.
Walking With Children embraces this goal. Together with our Honduran partner, Caminando Con Niños, Walking With Children will:
- Ensure women who are HIV positive reach the medical system in time to receive the proper treatment to prevent HIV transmission to their child;
- Encourage all pregnant women to have an HIV test as soon as possible;
- Educate beneficiaries about HIV and how to prevent transmission;
- Follow HIV positive mothers after the child is born to make sure the child is getting appropriate medicine and receiving medical follow-up and HIV testing;
- Educate beneficiaries about the importance of taking their medication to stay healthy and lower the risk of vertical transmission;
- Counsel beneficiaries on self-esteem issues, making better choices, using pregnancy prevention strategies when they are HIV positive or under age, so behaviors that lead to HIV risk are reduced;
- Provide formula for babies of HIV positive mothers to bridge the gap between 6 months of age (when government supplied formula ends) and 12 months (before infants can drink cow’s milk), and during times when government supplies are insufficient.
Working together with this global vision in mind, we hope to see an end to mother-to-child HIV transmission by the year 2015!
