HIV/AIDS is a disease that forever changed our family when it took the life of my uncle Carlos almost 20 years ago. It saddens me that so many families are affected by HIV/AIDS…even more so when babies are being born HIV-positive despite it being preventable. Each and every day, 900 children are infected with HIV – 90% of child infections of HIV are passed on from mother to child and 100% of those infections could have been prevented with proper care and treatment for the HIV-positive mother.

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has joined the global health community and have set a goal to get the number of children being transmitted HIV/AIDS down to zero by 2015.  So in honor of World AIDS Day, tomorrow, Sat., 12/1, I think its appropriate that I share ways transmission from mother to a child can be prevented and how we can help/get involved.

Here are some of the Key Steps to Preventing Transmission to a Child from its Mother:

  1. Testing the expectant mother so that if need be, she can receive the essential treatment that will protect her health and the health of her baby.
  2. Prenatal treatment for HIV-positive expectant mothers so that they can protect their babies from HIV by drastically reducing the risk of mother-to-child transmission.  This is done through Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy and education services (Over the past 15 years, an estimated 350,000 new HIV infections have been averted through prenatal treatment and the use of ARV drugs).
  3. Safe childbirth – These moms need adequate health care facilities they need to have a safe place for their delivery.

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  4. Child Health Visits are very important in the first few months of a newborn’s life.
  5. Safe Breastfeeding– Exclusive breastfeeding and ARV medicines help protect infants from infection.
  6. Early Infant Testing – measures a child’s HIV status so that they can have early access to the treatment they need to support their long-term healthy survival.

****Care and Treatment for a Child that is HIV+ is vital in keeping them healthy well into adulthood. Without treatment, half of HIV infected infants won’t make it to their second birthday.

How we can can help/get involved:

  • Consider making a donation of $30.  With $30 they are able to provide care and treatment to one mother, for one month.  https://secure.amothersfight.org/page/contribute/Support-Moms

“The Foundation’s video “Countdown to an AIDS-Free Generation” revisits the thirty years of the AIDS pandemic through the lens of children, and spotlights the current momentum toward the elimination of new pediatric HIV infections.”