• unicef.org
• Unite for Children

• Focus areas: 4 P's
• P1 - PMTCT
• P2 - Paediatrics
• P3 - Prevention
• P4 - Protection

P1 - Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV

© UNICEF/NYHQ2005-1870/DeCesare

Most pregnant women diagnosed with HIV do not have access to essential care and treatment, including antiretroviral therapy for their own health, to further reduce HIV transmission to their babies and prevent orphaning.

Since the launch of the Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS Call to Action (2005) there has been significant progress in scaling up of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and provision of paediatric HIV treatment. In 2007, a third of HIV-positive pregnant women received antiretroviral to prevent transmission to their children, a substantial increase compared with only 10 per cent in 2004.

Coverage for PMTCT and paediatric HIV treatment remain too low

Progress in the delivery of medicines to HIV-positive women varies according to region. Overall, provision of medicines for PMTCT has improved in sub-Saharan Africa, reaching 43 per cent of pregnant women living with HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa in 2007, up from 31 per cent in 2006, and 11 per cent in West and Central Africa, up from 7 per cent. Uptake increased in East Asia and the Pacific from 24 per cent in 2006 to 38 per cent in 2007 and in South Asia from 10 per cent to 13 per cent. There was no change in CEE/CIS and in Latin America and the Caribbean between 2006 and 2007 as these two regions were already at a high rate of coverage.

Strengthening maternal, newborn and child health services will enable women to access services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and promote maternal and child survival as part of a continuum of care.

Learn more about PMTCT