PMTCT

On 11 May 2014, many countries around the world celebrated Mother’s Day. In Geneva, Switzerland, UNAIDS, UNICEF and the Hotel InterContinental Genève marked the day with the opening of an inspiring exhibition of children’s art. The event was part of efforts to raise awareness and support to stop new HIV infections among children and ensure their mothers remain alive and well.

The exhibition, featuring unique drawings and paintings by young artists aged between 5 and 16 years living with or affected by HIV from Ukraine, provided an opportunity to highlight the urgent need to increase efforts to keep children free from HIV.

One of the children whose artwork was included in the exhibition was 16 year old Sofia Pinchuk. She is one of the adolescents under the care of a UNICEF-supported non-governmental organization called The Way Home, in Odesa. “The artwork is a reminder that the hopes and dreams of children and adolescents everywhere are the same,” said Sofia.

Sergej Kostin, Director of The Way Home said, "For this event, I asked some of the children and adolescents we care for in Odesa to create art reflecting what a home or family means to them.” In the captions to the pictures some of the children wrote that they dreamt of becoming footballers, teachers, writers, dancers or artists. But many simply dreamt of having a united family and a home.

Despite global progress and unprecedented investment in eliminating new HIV infections among children and reducing maternal deaths, much more needs to be done to ensure that the world reaches the 2015 goal of providing critical HIV services to 90% of pregnant women living with HIV. 

“Today more than 2 million adolescents in the world are living with HIV. But an AIDS-free generation is within reach.  We have the tools, we know what needs to be done,” said Marie Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. “As we celebrate all mothers in the world, let us commit to building a better world, one of sharing and solidarity. And let us start by giving a voice and a future to children.”

“HIV affects children and adolescents all over the world,” said Mahesh Mahalingam, UNAIDS Director of the Office of the Director of Programme. “We hope that this artwork will encourage you to take a closer look at the world of children and adolescents living with and affected by HIV—a poignant reminder of our shared responsibility to make sure they are not left behind.”

Jurgen Baumhoff, General Manager of the InterContinental Hotel Genève said, “We—the staff and guests of the InterContinental Hotel Genève—feel honored to be engaged in and to be able to support the HIV response. The courage and resilience of these young artists inspires us all to continue to support efforts to eliminate new HIV infections among children and keep mother’s alive.”

The event, part of the joint UNAIDS and the Hotel InterContinental Genève campaign ‘Where History is Made’, also provided an opportunity to launch two new videos—‘Celebrating Birthdays’ a UNAIDS video in support of millions of mothers and children living with or affected by HIV—and and also a reminder of the global campaign “Getting to Zero” for an AIDS-Free generation.

Proceeds from the event will go towards UNAIDS and UNICEF’s joint work in stopping new HIV infections among children and keeping their mothers alive.

Despite the significant decline in new HIV infections among children since the launch in 2011 of the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive (Global Plan), there is a need for a renewed sense of urgency to reach the Global Plan targets.

This was the main outcome of the second ministerial progress review meeting of the Global Plan convened by UNAIDS and PEPFAR as a side event during the sixty-seventh World Health Assembly, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 19 to 24 May.

The meeting brought together key partners working in the areas of HIV prevention, maternal health and child survival, including civil society representatives, donors and 16 ministerial delegations of the most affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Global Plan aims to ensure that less than 5% of children born to women living with HIV become infected with the virus. This would represent a reduction of new HIV infections among children by 90% compared with 2009. Participants stressed the need to thoroughly and simultaneously pursue all four components of the internationally agreed strategy to achieve such a dramatic reduction in mother-to-child-transmission of HIV. These include, first of all, the prevention of HIV among women of childbearing age as well as the prevention of unintended pregnancies among women living with HIV. Furthermore, all HIV-positive pregnant women need access to the most effective antiretroviral medicines to prevent HIV transmission. Once the child is born, the mother and the infant as well as their families need to receive appropriate HIV treatment, care and support.

More than 100 leaders and representatives of women’s rights organizations from across Kenya came together on 24 March in Nairobi to discuss ways to stop new HIV infections among children by 2015 and improve the health of mothers in the country.  

The women’s rights leaders meeting was co-organized by UNAIDS, UNDP, the National AIDS Control Council, the National AIDS and STI Control Programme and  the Community Advocacy and Awareness (CRAWN) Trust. The event aimed to accelerate the momentum started by the First Lady of Kenya Margaret Kenyatta through the Beyond Zero campaign—an initiative to end mother-to-child transmission and AIDS-related maternal deaths in Kenya.

Speaking at the meeting, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Jan Beagle applauded the First Lady’s personal commitment and stressed that for UNAIDS, gender equality and human rights—including sexual and reproductive health rights—are non-negotiable elements to ensure effective HIV and health responses.

Government figures show that in Kenya AIDS-related illnesses account for one in five maternal deaths and 100 000 children under the age of 5 years died from preventable causes in 2012. According to WHO figures, Kenya currently dedicates 6% of its national budget—less than half of the 15% Abuja Declaration target—to the health sector.