A mother’s instinct to protect her child is strong. It is particularly agonizing for HIV-positive women who bear children to know there is a high risk of passing the virus on, but this need not be the case. A treatment combining antiretroviral drugs and special approaches to childbirth and breastfeeding can provide a 98 percent chance of preventing the transmission of the virus from mother to child.

More than 790,000 HIV-positive pregnant women have received this treatment in recent years thanks to Global Fund investments and the work of partners. That’s around one in four women needing the treatment – a huge increase from only one in ten a decade ago.

While this represents great progress, we need to do much more: though it is now proven that safe and affordable treatments work, coverage remains too low in many of the countries with the highest burden of mother-to-child-transmission; treatments offered are not always the most effective; and women who need help are often unable to access it. As well as more treatment – there should be better quality treatment, and better ability to administer it.

The Global Fund is working to support the supply of improved drugs to prevent transmission as well as countries’ capacity to offer the best care, which often involves strengthening other parts of the healthcare system.