HIV+ Mothers Support Each Other to Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission and Ensure Positive Living 

August 2, 2007
No. 34/07

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia –  One hundred thirty-eight mothers living with HIV from the Addis Ababa area became the first to graduate today from the Mothers’ Support Group (MSG) program.  The graduating class will  be community leaders in the struggle against the pandemic, educating peers on the importance of HIV prevention.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funds the MSG program through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a five-year, $15 billion initiative to combat HIV/AIDS around the world. Ethiopia receives PEPFAR funds for a wide range of HIV prevention, care and treatment activities, , including the MSG program. IntraHealth International, a USAID partner, developed the MSG program to educate, mentor and connect HIV-positive mothers with other mothers living with HIV.

The clubs  provide the mothers with emotional support, while ensuring their access to a range of health services, such as family planning, nutrition, immunizations for their babies as well as anti-retroviral treatment for mothers and children. In addition to providing access to services, the program works at the community level to deliver targeted messages on receiving antenatal care, HIV testing and counseling, male involvement and stigma reduction. The MSG program, which is an important component of  PEPFAR’s Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT)  program, will expand to more Ethiopian communities in 2008. The graduating MSG mothers have completed peer education sessions and are expected to become active community-based leaders, educating and referring pregnant mothers to antenatal care which includes testing for HIV in order to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the disease.
 
“This is just the beginning of an important process in combating HIV in Ethiopia,” USAID Mission Director Glenn Anders said. “These peer mothers are going to help promote better care for infants and pregnant women and reduce the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission.”

Without interventions, approximately 35% of infants born to HIV-positive mothers contract the virus through mother-to-child-transmission.  According to the Ministry of Health’s most recent estimates,  the total estimated number of pregnant mothers living with HIV in 2007 in Ethiopia is 75,420 (7.7%) and the estimated annual number of HIV positive births is 14,146. Sine October 2004, IntraHealth International has used PEPFAR funds to provide PMTCT services in 248 public health centers and communities in all nine regions and two city administrations of Ethiopia.

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