World AIDS Day 2014
This World AIDS Day, let’s keep mothers in mind.
Maternal mortality and HIV remain the two leading causes of death among women of reproductive age. Forty-seven percent of people living with HIV worldwide are women. Many factors such as intimate partner violence, lack of education, and lack of testing during antenatal checkups, prevent a woman from getting treated.
In 2012, only 38% of pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries were tested for HIV. Mothers and pregnant women seek healthcare for themselves and their children more often than men. Reproductive health care visits provide an opportunity for the health care system to test and treat women with HIV or those at high risk.
Read recent news and research on maternal health and HIV:
- Yes, Doctor, I Took My Anti-HIV Meds (But Really, I Didn’t)
- Consequences of Missed Opportunities for HIV Testing during Pregnancy and Delayed Diagnosis for Mexican Women, Children and Male Partners
- A Systematic Review of Individual and Contextual Factors Affecting ART Initiation, Adherence, and Retention for HIV-Infected Pregnant and Postpartum Women
- Exploring loss to follow-up among women living with HIV in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programmes in Côte d’Ivoire
- Pregnancy and HIV disease progression: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Brief sexuality communication—a behavioural intervention to advance sexually transmitted infection/HIV prevention: a systematic review
- Lessons learnt from sexual and reproductive health and HIV linkages for multipurpose prevention technology service delivery