19 Jul 2010

AFRICA / MOTHER TO CHILD HIV

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé calls for a virtual elimination of mother to child HIV transmission by 2015 saying that there are currently “400,000 babies born every year in Africa with HIV when we know in the rest of the world we don’t have transmission from mother to child.” UNAIDS

Posted at: July 19, 2010 11:18 am

Duration: 02:18

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: AFRICA / MOTHER TO CHILD HIV 
TRT: 2.18
SOURCE: UNAIDS
RESTRUICTIONS: 
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 7, 9 2010, KAYOLE, KENYA / 17 -19 MAY 2010, YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON

SHOTLIST:

7, 9 JUNE 2010 KAYOLE, KENYA

1. Various shots, Rebecca taking her children home
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Awiti, Social Worker:
"It's a little bit difficult because there are three at a go, but I'm managing it."
3. Med shot, Rebeca's triplets doing their homework
4. Med shot, Rebecca and her children playing with a xylophone
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Awiti, Social Worker:
"I was really interested in having a child because I had not had one before. So I was also thinking like if I am going to die then it is worth having a child."
6. Various shots, Rebecca taking her ARVs drug
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Awiti, Social Worker:
"When I saw negative result that was after the first two weeks, I got happy. When I saw the next one after 6 months I was happier so I just concluded within me that I know they'll be HIV negative."
8. Various shots, triplets on a sofa
9. Various shots, Rebecca counselling women
10. Various shots, woman getting ARV counselling

17 -19 MAY 2010, YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON

11. Various shots, UNAIDS Executive Director with babies in maternity ward
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, UNAIDS:
"It's top priority because it is not acceptable. We have 400,000 babies born every year in Africa with HIV when we know in the rest of the world we don't have transmission from mother to child." 
13. Various shots, Sidibé at hospital visit 
14. Wide shot, woman in Cameroon getting tested for HIV
15. SOUNDBITE (French) Dr. Charles Kouanfack, Chief, Outpatient Clinic, Yaoundé:
"We realized that investing in caring for people living with HIV strengthened our capacity. It enabled us to train staff technically within the hospital structure." 
16. Various shots, newborns in maternity ward

STORYLINE:

Being a mother has always been Rebecca Awiti's dream.

But little did she expect to have triplets. The single mother lives in Kayole, Kenya.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Awiti, Social Worker:
"It's a little bit difficult because there are three at a go, but I'm managing it."

The triplets may be triple work, but Rebecca counts her blessings. She has been living with HIV since 2002.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Awiti, Social Worker:
"I was really interested in having a child because I had not had one before. So I was also thinking like if I am going to die then it is worth having a child."

During her pregnancy, Rebecca took anti-retroviral drugs to prevent HIV transmission. Still she was nervous. Would her babies be born HIV free?

SOUNDBITE (English) Rebecca Awiti, Social Worker:
"When I saw negative result, that was after the first two weeks, I got happy. When I saw the next one after 6 months I was happier so I just concluded within me that I know they'll be HIV negative."

More than three years later, Natalie, Lennox and Nicole are HIV-negative. And Rebecca is now a social worker counselling women with HIV: 
  
While their story is common place in developed countries, preventing mother-to-child transmission is still the exception in the developing world.

In sub-Saharan Africa, just 45% of pregnant women living with HIV receive life-saving antiretroviral drugs.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé has made having babies born HIV-free a top priority.

SOUNDBITE (English) Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, UNAIDS:
"It's top priority because it is not acceptable. We have 400,000 babies born every year in Africa with HIV when we know in the rest of the world we don't have transmission from mother to child."

Mr. Sidibé called for the virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission by 2015.

Another commitment is ensuring mothers continue HIV treatment after giving birth. Cameroon like many other countries finds that integrating HIV into maternal health programs has many plusses.

SOUNDBITE (French) Dr. Charles Kouanfack, Chief, Outpatient Clinic, Yaoundé:
"We realized that investing in caring for people living with HIV strengthened our capacity. It enabled us to train staff technically within the hospital structure."

A generation free of HIV. A dream coming true for mothers everywhere.