GHARP Builds Capacity in Services to Prevent Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission

DECEMBER 2004 — The Dorothy Bailey Clinic in Georgetown, Guyana, an antenatal care center, now also provides its clients with voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT), post-test counseling, and other services for preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), thanks to the Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction and Prevention Project (GHARP). GHARP, implemented by Family Health International and its partners, is a joint project of the government of Guyana and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. *

GHARP has sponsored PMTCT training programs to update the skills of Dorothy Bailey's nurses and continues to provide breast milk substitutes for HIV-positive mothers in the PMTCT program. GHARP also helped the clinic upgrade its facilities by reinforcing existing structures, adding walls to ensure client privacy and buying new equipment. Hundreds of Dorothy Bailey clients have benefited from these improvements and from access to PMTCT services during antenatal care visits.

GHARP has scaled up its PMTCT efforts to 30 other sites throughout Guyana. Between October 2003 and July 2004, outreach and other staff at these clinics have promoted PMTCT to more than 25 percent of all pregnant women living in their catchment areas – more than 80 percent of whom agreed to be tested. Among those women who tested positive, 75 percent of their newborns have received treatment.

With ongoing support and technical assistance from GHARP, the Dorothy Bailey Clinic and other GHARP-supported antenatal care facilities will continue to offer hope and improved health to women and their children.

 Learn about PMTCT success by reading 'The Story of Michelle.'

* Family Health International's partners include Cicatelli Associates Incorporated (CAI), Howard Delafield Incorporated (HDI), and Management Sciences for Health (MSH).