UNICEF UK Achievements 2009

Bijou (name changed, age 4) is
sick. Her parents both died of AIDS
and she has HIV. Bijou gets lifesaving
medicine from a UNICEFsupported
organisation in Haiti.
Ten-month-old Tresford
was born free from HIV
thanks to a UNICEFsupported
programme
in Zambia.
Mathato (age 29) holds her
10-month-old baby Mpho at
her mother’s home in Lesotho.
Six weeks after giving birth,
Mathato discovered that she
and Mpho have HIV. UNICEF
UK is helping mothers and
babies like Mathato and Mpho
receive life-saving medicine.
IN FOCUS : LESOTHO
About one in four of all people age 15 to 49 have HIV in Lesotho. More than
100,000 children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Nearly one in ten of
all new HIV cases are children under four years old. Without action, about one
in three babies born to HIV-positive mothers will get the virus. Most of these
babies will die before their first birthday. This is wrong. With proper action,
almost all these babies can be born free from HIV.
In 2004, nine health centres offered services to prevent the transmission of
HIV from mother to child. Today, with support from UNICEF UK, 169 (out of
192) health centres provide these services. This means that nearly 90 per
cent of HIV-positive mothers now receive the proper medical care to help their
babies to be born free from HIV.
UNICEF UK has also helped to ensure that three out of four children with
HIV receive the right medicine and care, as well as screen 10,000 children
in remote areas for HIV, TB and malnutrition.
Please help more children be born free, live free and stay free from HIV, visit unicef.org.uk/achieve
“It was so painful to see
so many children die, they
used to get very sick and
suffered terribly, so many
died in my hands.”
Mary Motumi, nurse at Hoek
Hospital, Mohale
UNICEF UK
ACHIEVEMENTS 2009 25