Save a Life
Less than 20% of HIV-infected pregnant women receive any treatment to save the lives of their infants. As many as 1,600 infants are born each day with an ultimately fatal HIV infection. Combinations of antiretroviral drugs when feasible, given during pregnancy and while breast feeding can reduce HIV transmission by over 95%. Rapid HIV tests costing less than $2 determine quickly whether an expectant mother is HIV positive. Cotrimoxazole, an antibiotic costing less than $6 per year, given every day, helps to prevent opportunistic infections, decreases episodes of malaria infection and keeps mothers and children healthier and living longer.
Save a Life has reached over 70 hospitals and clinics throughout the world . We have provided nevirapine to over 85,000 HIV infected pregnant women and their infants and over 18,000 rapid HIV tests to identify pregnant women who are infected and need treatment.
Our program is funded through individual, foundation and faith-based donations. It is streamlined to rapidly respond to underserved programs that need nevirapine now and cannot wait. As increased funds become available we expand prevention and care to include HIV rapid testing kits, combination antiretroviral drugs to reduce HIV transmission to infants and treat HIV infected mothers and children, cotrimoxazole to reduce secondary infections, and education and training of health care and community workers to expand the reach these programs.
There is only one opportunity to prevent HIV infection.
Once an infant is infected it cannot be reversed.
We had the opportunity to visit Bakin-Kogi, a village with a clinic started by Hauwa Kandima, a local woman who attended the Global Strategies Birth Attendant Training Workshop.
The chief and village elders met with us and then presented us with a picture of the first baby whose life had been saved using nevirapine from the Global Strategies’ workshop... Here, in a village where two-thirds of the people are infected with HIV, is a child the entire village celebrates — a child with a future.