Johnson and Johnson 2008 Annual Report Download - page 20

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           
                   
Living Positively
At eight months pregnant, Kangela received
heartbreaking news: She was HIV-positive.
“It was like the whole world had come to an
end,” says Kangela, who lives in South Africa’s
Eastern Cape region. “I didn’t know what to do. I was
thinking: Is my baby going to die? How am I going to
tell this to my mom and deal with the community?”
Kangela was not alone in her fears. In sub-
Saharan Africa, more than 22 million people are
infected with HIV, representing about two-thirds
of the world’s HIV population, according to 2008
UNAIDS figures. Infected women who become
pregnant risk passing the virus on to their children.
“When I first came to practice medicine
in South Africa in 1999, there were no programs
or resources for HIV-positive women,” says
obstetrician/gynecologist Mitch Besser, M.D.,
founder of the organization mothers2mothers
(m2m). “People weren’t getting tested, women
didn’t know how to feed their babies without
passing on the virus, and they were terrified to
disclose their HIV status to family members.”
Overworked doctors and nurses had little time
to provide support for HIV patients. “In 2001,
we decided to train another kind of health care
provider—mothers who were living with HIV,”
says Dr. Besser. “In Cape Town, we established
the first mothers2mothers program, where
HIV-positive mothers began serving as mentors
and sharing their experiences and knowledge with
other moms.”
By 2008, the
m2m program had grown to 400 program sites,
reaching 130,000 women each month. More than
1,000 moms are trained as mentors, including
Kangela. Dr. Besser says that nearly all the
HIV-positive women who participate in the
program have HIV-negative babies.
“Women come to us, and they are crying.
They are scared. I tell them my story: that I am
HIV-positive but my child is HIV-negative,”
says Kangela. “I tell them, ‘You are going to make
it, and you will raise a healthy baby.’”
The mentor mothers talk to women about
condom use, the importance of early infant
testing, proper diet, antiretroviral treatments and
how to safely feed their babies. They encourage
women to join an m2m support group, where
moms share their stories and form friendships.
“The mentor mothers’ strength has been
transformational for families in South Africa,”
says Dr. Besser. “These women no longer feel like
outcasts in society. They belong to a vibrant
community where they are raising healthy babies
and living positive lives.”
 m2m program leaders
say that partnerships with business, government
and other groups have allowed the program
to grow and reach more women every day.
Johnson & Johnson helped establish two m2m
sites in 2005 and currently supports 15 sites across
East London, Port Elizabeth and the Cape Town area.
For its work with m2m, Johnson & Johnson
received the 2008 Award for Business Excellence
on HIV/AIDS Addressing Women and Girls from
the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria. The m2m program is
among more than 100 HIV/AIDS programs that
Johnson & Johnson supports across 50 countries.
“Our partnership with Johnson & Johnson has
allowed us to reach enormous numbers of
women,” says Dr. Besser. “We want to take the m2m
program everywhere it is needed. What began as a
simple idea has changed the way thousands of
women feel, cope and live.”
“No more infected
babies. No more dying mothers” —this is the m2m
mantra, says Kangela. And each time she looks at
her 4-year-old son, she smiles. “My son is healthy,
very cute and playful. I am proof that there is hope.
And I look forward to the day when we can all raise
our children in an HIV-free generation.”
Kangela is an HIV-positive
mother and mentor with the mothers2mothers
program in South Africa. Because of the program,
her 4-year-old son was born without contracting
the disease from his mother. m2m is among
more than 100 HIV/AIDS programs that
Johnson & Johnson supports across 50 countries.