uniCEF SPONSORS 'the carrier' in documentary edge festival!

We are proud to bring The Carrier a powerful true story of one woman’s journey as she comes to terms with HIV, to the 2012 Documentary Edge Film Festival.

The film is based in Zambia and tells the story of 28-year-old Mutinta Mweemba who is caught in a desperate struggle to stop HIV being passed onto her unborn child.

Every day around the world 1,000 children are newly infected with HIV.  Vulnerable newborns can contract the virus from their HIV positive mothers during pregnancy, labour or delivery. Without treatment, a third of babies with HIV won't live to see their second birthday.

But we can stop this happening.

Medical treatment for mothers and babies mean children can be born free of HIV.   Donate to UNICEF’s HIV appeal to help mothers stop the transmission of their HIV to their babies. 

We have worked with the director and producer of The Carrier to bring this documentary to New Zealand for the first time so that more people know about this issue so that we can bring about an AIDS free generation.

The audience will have the opportunity to watch an interview with New York director, Maggie Betts, after the documentary has screened. Maggie will share how her special interest in bringing about an HIV-free generation in Africa inspired her to direct her first film.

The festival, which opens in Auckland on 26 April and will continue in Wellington from 17 May, will be held at Event Cinema’s Newmarket, Auckland and Angelika at Reading Cinemas, Wellington.

The Carrier, which has a screening in Auckland on 13th May for Mother’s Day, will be shown alongside other UNICEF sponsored films including Dolphin Boy, The Last Days of Winter and Mother – Caring for 7 Billion.

For screening dates and to buy tickets please visit the Documentary Edge Film Festival website.

uniting for mothers in PNG

The vast majority of people with HIV live in developing countries  – including in our own region, the Pacific. In many of these places UNICEF is working to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and AIDS, mobilising resources to fight the disease and campaigning for better education and health services for women and children.

In Papua New Guinea (PNG), where HIV has reached near epidemic levels, UNICEF is working with a rural hospital in the small town of Mingende on a new approach to stopping mother-to-child transmission that is getting real results, and changing the way health services are provided.  

More than half the estimated 34,000 people living with HIV in Papua New Guinea are women, but  the social stigma surrounding the virus makes it difficult for them to get help.  Just a decade ago, mothers who tested HIV-positive lived in fear of their lives.  Even today, women found to be HIV-positive are often suspected of infidelity and can be subjected to violence and socially isolated  by partners and family members.

The Mingende programme takes a 360-degree approach that includes community outreach to raise awareness of the issues, voluntary testing and counselling for couples and families, as well as medication and support for mothers, from pregnancy to post-natal care. In 2009, six years after the programme started, testing showed a 100 percent success rate: of the 25 babies born to HIV-positive mothers on the programme, none tested positive for HIV.

The Mingende programme shows that with the right intervention at the right time, we can stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV. 

preventing mother to child transmission Progress in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV has driven the global plan agreed by the UN to eliminate new HIV infections among children by 2015. Every day about 1,000 children are newly infected with HIV In 2010 an estimated 250,000 children under 15 died from AIDS-related causes, 20% fewer than in 2005. Globally there are around 1.4 million pregnant women living with HIV in low and middle income countries. Coverage of pregnant women receiving the most effective antiretroviral regimens to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV (excluding single-dose nevirapine) is estimated at 48% in 2010 (it was 9% in 2004). $39 provides HIV tests for 30 mothers-to-be. This is the first crucial step in identifying and treating HIV positive mothers $140 provides all the medicine and care to ensure a baby is born HIV-free

How you can help

»   Donate to UNICEF’s HIV appeal to help mothers stop the transmission of their HIV to their babies.
» Join UNICEF’s Campaigners for Change by emailing takeaction@unicef.org.nz
» Join UNICEF’s Facebook group
» Host your own UNICEF event.... have a film night, curry night or pub quiz and ask for a gold coin donation to save and transform the lives of children.
» Read more about UNICEF’s response to HIV and AIDS