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The U.S. Government is keeping its promise to support prevention of new HIV infections . . .
Prevention is a cornerstone of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (the Emergency Plan). It is estimated that existing prevention efforts reach only one in five of those at risk — and with an estimated 14,000 new HIV infections worldwide every day, there must be a dramatic reduction in new infections in order to stem the tide.
The Emergency Plan is meeting this challenge with a diverse portfolio of evidence-based prevention strategies. Programs are supported under the national strategies of host nations and tailored to the characteristics of each nation’s HIV epidemic. The Emergency Plan is working with host nations to rapidly implement prevention programs and build sustainable systems for the future.
The U.S. supports the most diverse and complex portfolio of HIV/AIDS prevention strategies of any international donor: in addition to the ABC approach, the U.S. also supports programs that focus on mother-to-child HIV transmission, blood safety and safe medical injections, intravenous drug users, HIV-discordant couples, women, men, and alcohol abuse, among other key issues.
The following stories are just a few examples of how the Emergency Plan is supporting national strategies and working with host nations to prevent the spread of HIV.
Peer Mothers’ Program Helps Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission
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| Kutlwano Molalapata, right, of the Mothers’ Program in Selebi Phikwe with a client. | Botsabelo is an area of 10,000 inhabitants in the mining town of Selebi Phikwe, Botswana, where over 50% of pregnant women are HIV-positive. Two clinics in Selebi Phikwe are piloting a peer mothers program modeled on the South African Mothers’ Programmes. With support from the U.S. Government and its partner organizations, the Botswana Christian AIDS Intervention Programme (BOCAIP) helped to establish the Mothers’ Programme in Selibe-Phikwe. BOCAIP supervises and supports the peer mothers who, in turn, provide emotional support to their peers.
In Botsabelo Clinic six young women gather each morning to talk with their peers about PMTCT, using their own experiences to convince others to take advantage of the free government program. Since the women began their work, more pregnant women and their partners are now being tested for HIV at the clinic. In addition to improving PMTCT services and relieving the workload of busy health care staff, the program gives peer mothers the knowledge, skills and self-confidence to better their lives while reducing stigma one mother at a time.
Abstinence and Faithfulness Programs Make Inroads with Youth
Through the Emergency Plan, the U.S. Government is supporting innovative efforts to encourage youth in Kenya, Haiti, Mozambique, and Rwanda to avoid risky behaviors. The Mobilizing Youth For Life program seeks to challenge and equip more than 1.8 million youth ages 10–24 to choose abstinence before marriage and faithfulness in marriage as the best prevention against the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
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| The Mobilizing Youth for Life Campaign uses sports clubs like this one, sponsored by the Rongai Youth Development Outreach in Kenya, to reach out-of-school youth with the empowering messages of abstinence and faithfulness. | The program also helps 200,000 “influencers” of youth—parents, guardians, pastors, teachers, and youth leaders—to guide youth to make and sustain wise life choices about their sexual behavior. This effort is part of a broader five-year program involving several organizations across the 15 focus countries that seeks to decrease HIV transmission among young people by reaching them with messages about abstinence and fidelity.
Central Asian Youth Centers Empower Youth, Prevent Drug Use and HIV Infection
The U.S. Government is supporting a network of youth centers in Central Asia whose focus is to prevent substance abuse. By working with young people before they get involved with drugs, centers in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan—three of the main points along the drug route—are making a difference.
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| During a Drug Demand Reduction Program peer education session, young adults brainstorm about methods of HIV transmission. | The youth centers offer education and activities to help young people make healthy choices. Dilnoza, a 22-year-old psychology student who lives in a neighborhood where heroin is common, became a peer educator at the youth center in Tashkent, Uzbekistan because her own brother had struggled with heroin addiction. Knowing first-hand how destructive the drug culture could be for young people, she wanted “. . . not only to help people already using drugs, but also their friends who are not yet using.”
In association with the youth center in Tashkent, Dilnoza runs a club called “Lichnost,” which means “Self.” Through the club, Dilnoza provides psychological consultations and a helping hand for youth dealing with severe problems in their lives. “I want to help them discover their own untapped potential and positive aspects of their character,” she said.
Helping a Woman Make the Decision for a Better Future
Bupe, now age 18, began sex work when she was 12. Her parents are alive but were unable to provide for her basic needs, including education. She was vulnerable when her friends introduced her to sex work. Like many young girls in poor situations in Zambia and elsewhere, Bupe was attracted by the constant source of money afforded by commercial sex work. Bupe never realized she was risking her health or her life.
At age 16, Bupe became pregnant. She came into contact with Corridors of Hope (COH), an Emergency Plan-supported program, during a behavior change and communication workshop COH organized for sex workers. During the workshop, Bupe realized she was at high risk of contracting HIV and feared for the future of her child. Through the project, Bupe learned about HIV prevention methods and decided to use condoms with all her clients and sexual partners. As her pregnancy advanced, however, Bupe saw no future for her or her child if she continued her life as a sex worker. She made the decision to change her life and asked COH staff for help in finding an alternative way of life.
COH referred Bupe to the Department of Social Welfare. There, she was able to get support to further her education and is now in the ninth grade. Bupe encourages all her friends from the streets to go to the COH drop-in center to learn about HIV so that they can make good decisions for their lives. |
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