UNICEF helps mothers in Côte d'Ivoire stay vigilant against HIV paid UNICEFUSA
A clinician tests a baby for HIV at a UNICEF-supported hospital in Port Bouet, a suburb of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.An important part of UNICEF's mission is to make sure that vulnerable women get the health care and support they need during pregnancy and childbirth. That includes early testing and treatment for HIV — to protect the mother's life, and her baby's.
UNICEF's efforts — to encourage women to seek prenatal care, get tested for HIV and, if positive, begin therapy with antiretroviral drugs — has helped reduce HIV prevalence in Côte d'Ivoire and other countries where risk of infection remains high. In Côte d'Ivoire, ARVs are free and accessible to anyone who needs them, and the cost is covered by the government. And testing positive for HIV is no longer a death sentence. Another goal UNICEF is working toward: removing the stigma that often comes with a diagnosis, to encourage women who may have been exposed to seek help.
Doumbia, photographed while waiting for her pre-natal checkup at a UNICEF-supported health center in Odienné, Côte d'Ivoire, remembers learning she was HIV positive when she was pregnant with her third child.Doumbia, who is HIV positive, goes to a UNICEF-supported health center in Odienné, Côte d'Ivoire, for prenatal checkups while pregnant with her fourth child.
Testing for HIV is a lot easier now, and can be done at most clinics as part of a routine checkup. Previously, parents would have to wait until the baby was 18 months old, and getting the test results would take weeks."That's an agonizingly long time to wait to find out whether your baby needs to be treated for HIV," says Amanda Reffsin, who covers these issues as a member of the UNICEF USA global programs and humanitarian response team.
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