Community action to end new paediatric HIV infections

Rebecca Awiti and her partner live in Nairobi's Kibera slums. Both are HIV positive like many of their neighbours. Still, they dreamed of having a healthy child together. Before Rebecca conceived, her doctor referred her to the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme at Kenyatta National Hospital. Clinicians provided her with antiretroviral therapy, which can prevent babies contracting HIV from their parents 98% of the time. Today, the couple are proud parents of healthy, HIV-negative four-year-old triplets. Rebecca now also works for a non-profit organization called Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK).