Africa
MORE than Over 600 million people across the African continent are still not accessing basic healthcare, and the clock to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 is ticking. To tackle these challenges head on, African NGO mothers2mothers (m2m) has launched an ambitious new strategy that aims to end AIDS and reduce preventable deaths by a third by 2026 for the communities they serve across 10 African nations. These goals will be reached by the training and employment of African women living with HIV as community health workers, as well as by m2m commencing operations in at least two new African countries.
m2m’s “Mentor Mothers”—women living with HIV trained and employed as community health workers—have already reached over 15 million people across the African continent since 2001. They have delivered health outcomes for entire families, including virtually eliminating the transmission of HIV from mother-to-child among enrolled clients for eight consecutive years, and helping to keep over two million at-risk mothers and children alive.
Now, over the next five years, m2m will leverage its proven peer-led model to double down on its original mission of ending HIV and achieve the UNAIDS triple elimination target for HIV, Syphilis, and Hepatitis B for enrolled clients, while also tackling life-threatening health issues that pose major risks for people living with HIV—all with the aim of building a fairer, healthier future. The expanded health areas to be tackled by the organisation will include tuberculosis, malaria, and non-communicable diseases (including cervical cancer)—many of which occur alongside HIV and in settings of marginalisation and poverty.
By shifting power to communities, and training and employing women living with HIV as community health workers, mothers2mothers has shown that investing in community-led, integrated primary health care solutions can deliver huge impact and positive health outcomes for women, children, adolescents, and families. Not only is this accepted as international best practice—the World Health Organization argues that universal health coverage “should be based on strong, people-centered primary health care”—it has also been m2m’s experience. To increase and accelerate impact, m2m’s new strategy also includes a focus on supporting African governments to unlock the power of female community health workers through certification, employment, and career pathing, while also advocating for greater recognition for community health workers as the key resource and vital link that they are.
This shift and renewed commitment from m2m will help address some of the most urgent and devastating health challenges faced by women, children, and other vulnerable groups, which include:
- One in two children living with HIV across East and Southern Africa still do not have access to life-saving anti-retroviral treatment.
- Two out of three mothers who die during pregnancy live in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension account for 37% of deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death for people living with HIV, causing more than one-third of all AIDS-related deaths in 2015.
Commenting on the release of the new strategy, m2m President and CEO, Frank Beadle de Palomo said:
“Based on feedback from our frontline team, and the communities we serve, m2m knows that we can—and must—act now to prevent the preventable and deliver health and opportunity for all. By delivering healthcare to families that need it most, by those who know them best, m2m will create a foundation for opportunity in African communities that ultimately leads to a healthier, fairer world. But we cannot do this alone—it will require the partnership of the global health community, funders, the private sector, and individuals.”
A.I
Tags: mothers2mothers UN
