Almost every minute of every day, a baby is born with HIV, passed on by their mother during pregnancy,  labour or delivery.

Without access to the right medicines and care, most will die before their second birthday. UNICEF’s Unite for Mothers campaign is working to change those statistics.

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.  

uniting for mothers in PNG

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-infected mothers on the programme, none tested positive for HIV. You can read more about the programme here.

Born free

The Mingende programme shows that with the right intervention at the right time, we can stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDs.  Medication given to a woman during pregnancy and delivery, and to her infant shortly following birth, will reduce the chances of passing the HIV virus to her baby.  In fact the drug that halves the chance of babies getting HIV from their Mums costs as little as $3.50.

You can help ensure that more babies are born HIV free by  purchasing an HIV test kit . Video

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). A drug that halves the chance of babies getting HIV from their mums costs as little as $3.50.

How you can help

» Buy your mum an Inspired Gift for Mother's Day
» Donate to UNICEF
» 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 our handy fact sheet about prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV
» Read more about UNICEF’s response to HIV and AIDS