Mother’s day is a chance to celebrate our mums, but it’s also a chance for mums to appreciate having healthy and happy children. For HIV positive women in Papua New Guinea (PNG) this used to be an impossible dream, but now thanks to a UNICEF funded project the future is looking brighter.

The first case of HIV and AIDS was reported in PNG in 1987 but today the disease is widespread with 1% of the population expected to be HIV positive by 2015. There are many reasons why HIV prevalence is increasingly rapidly in PNG such as early sexual activity between partners, low use of condoms and alarming rates of violence against women. This is compounded by the stigma surrounding HIV testing, meaning that women are often in the dark about having the disease.

Preventing pregnant women from passing on HIV to their child is possible though through the use of drugs and has become a key focus for health authorities in PNG. As well as the reluctance to be tested, there are other hurdles to overcome including; people living in remote locations, unreliable transportation and gender inequality.

Against these odds one project which is making real progress is the rural hospital in the small town of Mingende. They first started running “Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission of HIV” treatment in 2003 and decided that in order to make a difference they would have to reach out to people in their communities. This meant adopting mobile clinics to simultaneously treat people and create awareness among men and women.

The hospital built its credibility by caring equally for all those who came to them, irrespective of whether they were HIV positive or otherwise, and thus earned the trust of visiting mothers and pregnant women. Word soon spread about its positive approach to care. To date almost 6000 mothers have been tested for HIV with 60 found to be positive, but encouragingly babies are being born without the disease. Out of 25 babies born to HIV positive mothers since 2009, all 25 tested negative.

Mingende has had great success in helping babies be born free from HIV, but there are still great strides to be made towards the reality of an HIV free generation, with 1000 babies around the world being born every day with HIV. Projects like Mingende need continued funding to meet demand and build on the progress already made.

Dennis McKinlay, Executive Director of UNICEF NZ, said, “Without the treatment from clinics like Mingende many babies born to HIV positive mothers would not survive – currently half of all babies born with HIV don’t reach their second birthday without proper medication.

“This Mother’s Day help us continue to help stop the transmission of HIV to children. We know preventative programmes are making a big difference globally towards the hope of a world free from HIV".

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