Benin

West African country/Field visit with Melinda Gates (Cotonou Dangbo) to a programme funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS in Africa (26 and 27 January 2010)

According to the estimates of the National Programme against AIDS in 2007, 1.2% of Benin’s population is HIV positive. 1.5% of women are infected by the virus, compared with 0.8% of men. Among pregnant women, the prevalence rate is 2%. Over 6,600 HIV-positive women give birth each year. As ambassador for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, protecting mothers and children against HIV transmission, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy visited Benin for 48 hours on 26 and 27 January 2010, accompanied by Melinda Gates. In 2006, the Gates Foundation donated $500 million over five years to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The Global Fund provides 39.21% of the country’s total budget for the fight against HIV/AIDS (€84 million).

After a private dinner with President Yayi Boni and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Michel Kazatchkine joined Melinda Gates in the city of Cotonou, the seat of government. The two women joined the Director of the Global Fund for a visit to the House of the Redeeming Love Hospital in Dangbo. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Melinda Gates met two HIV-affected women receiving treatment for PMTCT, an important scheme set up by the authorities in Benin to prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to infants. They went on to meet a group of mediators and HIV-positive women.

PMTCT entails a range of services aimed at future mothers, including HIV testing and care (antiretroviral prophylaxis during pregnancy and childbirth) for HIV-positive patients. In 2009, 1,266 HIV-positive pregnant women benefited from PMTCT services. ‘With this comprehensive care, the risk of the infant being infected is less than 2% (as against over 30% without care), say National Programme officials. While the scheme does not yet have nationwide coverage, 40% of women can now access these services as against 20% in 2006. In Benin, the public health system has 574 maternity homes and 35 infirmaries, alongside 32 new private maternity homes. 48% of maternity homes now offer PMTCT services, (76% in Unicef intervention areas) as against 7% in 2004.