HIV/AIDS Prevention

What

This project is part of a national campaign to raise awareness and take action to reduce the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child. The number of children who are HIV positive is on the increase and in the majority of cases the infection is transmitted from the mother to child.
Furthermore, this project aims to raise awareness at community level about the risks of HIV/AIDS. By improving the availability of both testing and counselling, we hope to increase the number of people being tested for the disease whilst also improving the treatment available for those who test positive. The testing programme is interlinked with a counselling service which is available before and after testing for all patients, whether seropositive or seronegative.

Why

Adhering to the World Health Organization’s global campaign to increase the prevention and treatment of the disease, the Malagasy government has launched a national campaign to improve the services offered by health centres with a specific focus on the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Madagascar is one of the few remaining countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with a relatively low prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS (0.95%). However, the number of people being tested for the disease remains very low and is generally confined to a small sector of the community (sex workers and those suspected as likely carriers of the disease).
There is a lack of information available in certain communities about the disease and the available services. As a result, there is a lack of understanding of the risks of the disease and how it is spread; often people are too scared and ashamed to get tested. Equally, the lack of testing centres discourages people from getting tested.

This project raises awareness amongst communities and helps improve services available, in particular services to prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child.