Almost every minute of every day, a baby is born with HIV, passed on by their mother during pregnancy, labour or delivery. In 2008, an estimated 387,000 babies were born with HIV.
Given proper prevention of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) services, the risk that a woman will pass the virus to her baby can be reduced from one-third to less than one in 50.
Prevention services
Prevention services of MTCT (PMTCT) include counselling, medicine and testing for HIV. The mother receives a course of treatment for three months before she gives birth and a tablet when she goes into labour. The baby is then given some medicated syrup soon after birth. Once the baby is born, mothers are counselled on infant-feeding options to reduce the risk of transmission through breastfeeding.
UNICEF also supports the development of PMTCT services as a starting point for providing treatment, care and support to whole families, so that the baby that is born free does not grow up an orphan.
Progress
The good news is that access to these prevention services has increased in recent years and 45 per cent of pregnant women with HIV now receive anti-retroviral prophylaxis to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus to their babies.
UNICEF is working to ensure that all pregnant women with HIV receive the right medicine and care to prevent them passing HIV onto their baby. Our aim is to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015.
