6694 The Communication Initiative, The Drum Beat – Issue 578 – Vertical Transmission of HIV, February 28 2011

The Drum Beat – Issue 578 – Vertical Transmission of HIV
February 28 2011

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This issue includes:
* CONTEXT: RESEARCH on PMTCT & rights.
* Exploring vertical transmission BEHAVIOUR CHANGE strategies.
* Interested in more? SUBSCRIBE to the DB Click: HIV/AIDS.
* A few INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION vertical transmission summaries.
* Updates from C-CHANGE.
* Selected vertical transmission RESOURCES.
* Where to go for MORE vertical transmission & communication info.

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From The Communication Initiative Network – where communication and media are central to social and economic development.

Subscribe to The Drum Beat: http://www.comminit.com/en/user/register
Access this issue online at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_578.html

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This issue of The Drum Beat gathers a small sampling of the knowledge offered within The CI’s HIV/AIDS theme site –http://www.comminit.com/en/hiv-aids.html – focused on communication-centred efforts to help prevent the transmission of HIV from a mother to her child – called «PMTCT» or «vertical transmission».

Regarding terminology – Stephen Lewis delivered remarks on July 19 2009 at the opening of the International AIDS Society Conference on Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Cape Town, South Africa. He said: «never again should it be called mother-to-child transmission. It should better be called vertical transmission. How is it that we so casually, mindlessly demonize the mother by naming her as the vector?»

However the issue is named, below are a few examples; and we welcome more. Please send your information todrumbeat@comminit.com

See also knowledge within the UNAIDS Outcome Framework priority on Reducing Maternal Risk:http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C3464

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CONTEXT: VERTICAL TRANSMISSION RESEARCH & RIGHTS

1.      The Astonishing Neglect of an HIV-Prevention Strategy: The Value of Integrating Family Planning and HIV Services
by Rose Wilcher and Willard Cates
This November 2009 article cites studies showing that between 84-90% of pregnancies among HIV-positive women enrolled in PMTCT and antiretroviral programmes in South Africa and Uganda were unintended. «HIV-infected women, like all women, have the right to make reproductive choices for themselves – they should never be coerced into a particular reproductive decision. For those women who do not wish to become pregnant, providers must be able to discuss safe and effective contraceptive options.»
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/307309/347

2.      Four 4 Women – Argentina, Cambodia, Moldova, Morocco, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Global
This advocacy initiative advocates is based on research revealing that a focus on preventing HIV transmission from a woman living with HIV to her infant by providing her with antiretroviral (ARV) prophylaxis for a short time is too narrow; the focus should, according to organisers, be brought back to true comprehensive care for the woman, which means supporting her rights: to sexual and reproductive health, to effective HIV prevention information and services, to safe and effective treatment, and to accurate and clear guidance on infant feeding.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/327674/347

3.      PMTCT Programme Is Yet to Achieve Desired Impact: Research from Uganda’s Organisations
by Kakaire Kirunda
This January 2008 article outlines research on barriers to PMTCT and other maternal health services conducted by a health consumers’ organisation advocating health rights and responsibilities, in western Kamwenge District, Uganda. It showed that the PMTCT programme is facing a serious challenge, as a significant number of women are rejecting their HIV-positive test results, reportedly for a variety of reasons.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/287800/347

4.      Integrating HIV/AIDS Services with Antenatal and Delivery Care: A Comparison between the PMTCT Programs in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua
by M. Estela Rivero-Fuentes
From June 2007, this research endeavour compares the experience, achievements, and obstacles to adequate implementation of the PMTCT-centred Population Council programmes in the Dominican Republic (DR) and Nicaragua. One finding: HIV/AIDS service providers tend to emphasise condom use and to discourage use of any other method. Thus, HIV-positive women who do not feel safe when using only the condom and wish to request an additional method may not find the information or referral guidance they seek.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/300120/347

5.      Addressing the Family Planning Needs Of HIV-Positive PMTCT Clients
From 2005, this paper presents findings from an operations research study testing several community-based strategies to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV in a densely settled urban slum area in Nairobi, Kenya. «These baseline data highlight that most HIV-positive women do not plan to have additional children….Providers play a large role in influencing how women feel about future childbearing….In this setting, there is significant demand by HIV-positive women for family planning in general, and condoms in particular. Yet, side effects are identified as the most important reason why women in these communities may not use contraceptives even if they do not want to become pregnant.»
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/217066/347

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PMTCT BEHAVIOUR CHANGE STRATEGIES

6.      Radio Role Models for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and HIV Testing Among Pregnant Women in Botswana: Documenting Change
by Anne Sebert Kuhlmann, Joan Marie Kraft, Christine Galavotti, Tracy L. Creek, Maungo Mooki, and Raphael Ntumy
This 2008 study presents an evaluation of the serial radio drama Makgabaneng (Rocky Road) in Botswana, which is designed to encourage use of PMTCT programmes and promote HIV testing during pregnancy, among other objectives. The programme is designed to motivate listeners to change their behaviour through entertaining storylines. A survey conducted among just over 500 pregnant and postpartum women in 10 antenatal clinics found that women who named a PMTCT favourite character from the series were significantly more likely to have tested for HIV during pregnancy than those who did not.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/324393/347

7.      Experience with HIV and Infant Feeding Counseling Tools
by Nicholas Dondi
This May 2006 presentation examines LINKAGES’ experience with behaviour change communication (BCC) and counselling tools on HIV and infant feeding in 4 countries. For example, in Ethiopia, LINKAGES developed a flipchart for health workers, as well as clinic posters, to remind them of infant feeding counselling steps. Following a detailing of the materials themselves, the presentation outlines how they have been used in the clinic setting.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/72326/347

8.      Strengthening PMTCT through Communication: A Review of the Literature
by Vernon Solomon, Kerry Frizelle, and Asta Rau
This 2009 document, published by the Centre for AIDS Development Research and Evaluation (CADRE), offers a literature review on social mobilisation and communication in support of PMTCT of HIV. The social ecology model outlined here describes 4 levels of engagement in communication for social and behavioural change: societal, community, social networks, and individual. These levels are used to categorise the findings of the literature according to the following areas: barriers to PMTCT implementation, the key participants to be addressed, key communication themes and messages, and good practices in planning and implementing successful PMTCT communication campaigns.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/316260/347

9.      Behavior Change Perspective on Integrating PMTCT & Safe Motherhood Programmes
From 2003, this paper focuses on those PMTCT programme elements related to improved obstetric practice and discusses the potential synergies of integrating PMTCT and «safe motherhood» programmes, particularly the behaviour change components. It makes literature-based recommendations for increasing the emphasis on and funding for the improved obstetric practice component of PMTCT programmes and shows how the PMTCT literature supports the need to prioritise operations research to better document the contribution of improved obstetric practice to reduce MTCT during labour, delivery, and early postpartum.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/213202/347

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DB CLICK: HIV/AIDS

…updates people seeking to address HIV/AIDS issues and opportunities on recent HIV/AIDS information recently placed on The Communication Initiative website.

If you would like to subscribe to this mailing, please send an email to AIDS@comminit.com requesting to «subscribe: HIV».

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FOCUS ON INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

10.     Home Truths: Facing the Facts on Children, AIDS, and Poverty
Final Report of the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS
One focus of this February 2009 report is the importance of interpersonal communication: «Family-centred approaches to PMTCT [prevention of mother to child transmission] and ART [antiretroviral therapy] embody a fresh strategic direction critical for breaking the momentum of HIV/AIDS in high burden settings in sub-Saharan Africa.»
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/295553/347

11.     HIV and Infant Feeding Guidelines and Tools: Toward Global Utilization
by Constanza Vallenas, Peggy Henderson, Chipepo Kankasa, and Rajiv Bahl
From 2006, this report examines strategies for facilitating global use of HIV and infant feeding guidelines and tools. It explores the role of both printed materials, such as flipcharts, and training in interpersonal communication (counselling) to inform mothers about options for feeding their babies, and to help guide their choices in this regard. The team of authors begins by providing some background and data about the risks of mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT) in relation to infant feeding, citing evidence suggesting that the quality of counselling is often inadequate, in spite of good general counselling skills.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/72332/347

12.     Project Masihambisane – South Africa
Launched in 2008, Project Masihambisane (or, «let’s walk together»)involves the assessment of a mentor/mother support intervention supplementing a standard PMTCT programme in 8 primary health care clinics in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The mentors, who are carefully chosen role models with relevant life experience and empathy, give assistance to HIV-positive mothers and their babies during pregnancy and the baby’s first year.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/309027/347

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UPDATES FROM C-CHANGE

C-Change Develops Community Conversation Toolkit

C-Change developed the Community Conversation Toolkit for HIV prevention, a set of six materials (and Facilitator’s Guide) that include dialogue cubes, role-play cards, finger puppets, and dialogue buttons, grouped around a community mobilisation process. Designed for adults with lower literacy skills, the toolkit assists southern African communities to initiate discussions around drivers of HIV (multiple concurrent partnerships, alcohol, intergenerational sex, and violence). Download the English, Zulu, and Sotho versions on C-Hub at http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=c0676cfd8d56266497d6e6a55d197fe4

C-Change Assists Kenyan Communities to Prevent Malaria

With funding from the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), C-Change
provided social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) training to NGO staff in western Kenya. Staff, in turn, trained community health workers to educate families about malaria prevention actions. Results show a reduction in malaria among children under 5 and pregnant women, increase in use of insecticide-treated nets, and increase in number of pregnant women seeking intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp). Read the Success Story at http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=4532edb7083f2cfcfe0fb0c6f5368b2a

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RESOURCES
http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C30

13.     Regional Initiative for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and CS in LAC: Regional Monitoring Strategy
This January 2010 document from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provides strategies and tools to support the Regional Initiative for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (MTCT) and Congenital Syphilis [CS] in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. It provides a recommended set of indicators for monitoring country and regional progress toward elimination of MTCT of HIV and CS.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/327490/347

14.     How-to-Cards: Resources for Parliamentarians
Produced in October 2009 by Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Services (SAfAIDS), this series of «How-to-Cards» is an advocacy resource for parliamentarians that seeks to support them in communicating practical HIV and AIDS information. Card #4 focuses on PMTCT, indicating that «paediatric transmission» is now readily preventable, and it is vital to ensure that as many mothers as possible have access to this very important but simple and effective prevention measure.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/307982/347

15.     What Works for Women and Girls: Evidence for HIV/AIDS Interventions
by Jill Gay, Karen Hardee, Melanie Croce-Galis, Shannon Kowalski, Chanelle Gutari, Claire Wingfield, Kimberly Rovin, and Kristine Berzin
This June 2010 report provides evidence to underlie and underscore the purpose of What Works for Women & Girls, a website designed to compile and summarise evidence to support successful interventions in HIV programming for women and girls. One section focuses on structuring health services to meet women’s needs; amongst the ideas outlined here: scaling up PMTCT programmes.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/322419/347

16.     Wegen AIDS Talkline – Ethiopia
Trained counsellors in 6 languages equip this nationally available Ethiopian toll-free telephone line, which aims to provide callers with access to free and anonymous HIV/AIDS information, counselling, and referrals to help prevent and cope with HIV/AIDS – prevention from vertical transmission.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/135355/347

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Please also see these past issues of The Drum Beat focused on vertical transmission of HIV:

The Drum Beat 406 – HIV Testing and Pregnant Women: How Do We Best Prevent Vertical Transmission?
http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_406.html

The Drum Beat 146 – Strategic Communication and PMTCT – UNICEF
http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_146.html

The Drum Beat 43 – Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS
http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_43.html

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See also the HIV/AIDS Theme Site – Where communication and media are central to HIV/AIDS –http://www.comminit.com/en/hiv-aids.html

UNAIDS Outcome Framework Priorities:

* Advocate Against Discrimination: http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C3468
* Empower People at Risk: http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C3467
* Empower Youth: http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C3471
* Enhance Social Protection: http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C3472
* Ensure Treatment: http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C3465
* Focus on Women and Violence: http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C3470
* Prevent TB: http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C3473
* Protect Drug Users: http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C3466
* Reduce Maternal Risk: http://www.comminit.com/en/section2/347/347%2C3464

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This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries.

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The Drum Beat is the email and web network of The Communication Initiative Partnership – ANDI, BBC World Service Trust, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Calandria, CFSC Consortium, CIDA, DFID, FAO, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano, Ford Foundation, Healthlink Worldwide, Inter-American Development Bank, International Institute for Communication and Development, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, MISA, PAHO, The Panos Institute, The Rockefeller Foundation, SAfAIDS, Sesame Workshop, Soul City, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, WHO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Chair of the Partners Group: Garth Japhet, Founder, Soul City garth@heartlines.org.za
Executive Director: Warren Feek wfeek@comminit.com

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The Editor of The Drum Beat is Kier Olsen DeVries.

Please send additional project, evaluation, strategic thinking, and materials information on communication for development at any time. Send to drumbeat@comminit.com

The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.