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 the Eastern Cape of South Africa. “I was thinking: Is my baby going to die? How am I going to tell this to my mom and deal with the community?” Because 67 percent of the world’s HIV population lives in sub-Saharan Africa, Kangela is one of many women facing this fear. “When I came to practice medicine in South Africa in 1999, there were no programs or resources for HIV-positive women,” says Mitch Besser, M.D., Obstetrician/Gynecologist. To address this issue, Dr. Besser founded mothers2mothers (m2m), a program where HIV-positive mothers share their experiences and knowledge with pregnant women and new moms who have the virus. Mothers Helping Mothers The first m2m site opened in Cape Town in 2001. Today, m2m services are offered in 645 sites across seven countries in Africa, including Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia. In 2010, m2m will launch in Tanzania and Uganda. Program sites interact with more 200,000 people every month, and 300,000 new HIV-positive mothers enroll in the program each year. The mentor mothers talk to women about the use of condoms, antiretroviral treatment, proper diet, how to feed their babies to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and how to overcome discrimination. The results have been life changing. “These women no longer feel like outcasts in society,” says Dr. Besser. “They belong to a vibrant community where they are raising healthy babies and living positive lives.” Partnerships with business, government and other groups have allowed the m2m program to grow and reach more women every day. From July 2009 to April 2010, support from Johnson & Johnson helped m2m reach thousands of women living with HIV, including nearly 9,800 women in Lesotho, 21,000 in Swaziland and nearly 3,500 in South Africa. Mantra of Hope “No more infected babies. No more dying mothers.” This is the m2m mantra, says Kangela, herself now a mentor mother. She smiles each time she looks at her 6-year-old healthy son. “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.” Learn More www.m2m.org mothers2mothers Video on JNJHealth Channel

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Home > Our Caring > Our Giving > Preventing Diseases > HIV/AIDS Portfolio > Preventing Mother to Child Transmission

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 the Eastern Cape of South Africa. “I was thinking: Is my baby going to die? How am I going to tell this to my mom and deal with the community?” Because 67 percent of the world’s HIV population lives in sub-Saharan Africa, Kangela is one of many women facing this fear. “When I came to practice medicine in South Africa in 1999, there were no programs or resources for HIV-positive women,” says Mitch Besser, M.D., Obstetrician/Gynecologist. To address this issue, Dr. Besser founded mothers2mothers (m2m), a program where HIV-positive mothers share their experiences and knowledge with pregnant women and new moms who have the virus. Mothers Helping Mothers The first m2m site opened in Cape Town in 2001. Today, m2m services are offered in 645 sites across seven countries in Africa, including Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia. In 2010, m2m will launch in Tanzania and Uganda. Program sites interact with more 200,000 people every month, and 300,000 new HIV-positive mothers enroll in the program each year. The mentor mothers talk to women about the use of condoms, antiretroviral treatment, proper diet, how to feed their babies to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and how to overcome discrimination. The results have been life changing. “These women no longer feel like outcasts in society,” says Dr. Besser. “They belong to a vibrant community where they are raising healthy babies and living positive lives.” Partnerships with business, government and other groups have allowed the m2m program to grow and reach more women every day. From July 2009 to April 2010, support from Johnson & Johnson helped m2m reach thousands of women living with HIV, including nearly 9,800 women in Lesotho, 21,000 in Swaziland and nearly 3,500 in South Africa. Mantra of Hope “No more infected babies. No more dying mothers.” This is the m2m mantra, says Kangela, herself now a mentor mother. She smiles each time she looks at her 6-year-old healthy son. “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.” Learn More www.m2m.org mothers2mothers Video on JNJHealth Channel

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 the Eastern Cape of South Africa. “I was thinking: Is my baby going to die? How am I going to tell this to my mom and deal with the community?”

Because 67 percent of the world’s HIV population lives in sub-Saharan Africa, Kangela is one of many women facing this fear.

“When I came to practice medicine in South Africa in 1999, there were no programs or resources for HIV-positive women,” says Mitch Besser, M.D., Obstetrician/Gynecologist. To address this issue, Dr. Besser founded mothers2mothers (m2m), a program where HIV-positive mothers share their experiences and knowledge with pregnant women and new moms who have the virus.

Mothers Helping Mothers
The first m2m site opened in Cape Town in 2001. Today, m2m services are offered in 645 sites across seven countries in Africa, including Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia. In 2010, m2m will launch in Tanzania and Uganda.

Program sites interact with more 200,000 people every month, and 300,000 new HIV-positive mothers enroll in the program each year.

The mentor mothers talk to women about the use of condoms, antiretroviral treatment, proper diet, how to feed their babies to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and how to overcome discrimination.

The results have been life changing. “These women no longer feel like outcasts in society,” says Dr. Besser. “They belong to a vibrant community where they are raising healthy babies and living positive lives.”

Partnerships with business, government and other groups have allowed the m2m program to grow and reach more women every day. From July 2009 to April 2010, support from Johnson & Johnson helped m2m reach thousands of women living with HIV, including nearly 9,800 women in Lesotho, 21,000 in Swaziland and nearly 3,500 in South Africa.

Mantra of Hope
“No more infected babies. No more dying mothers.” This is the m2m mantra, says Kangela, herself now a mentor mother. She smiles each time she looks at her 6-year-old healthy son. “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.”

Learn More
www.m2m.org
mothers2mothers Video on JNJHealth Channel

Employees