Church Involvement in Programmes for the Prevention of Vertical Transmission of HIV. 06/08/07

“Focused Church Based Action for PMTCT Case Studies of Tearfund Partner PMTCT Programs in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe” (Oct 2006) is a report that highlights opportunities and challenges faced by Christian organizations and churches in scaling up prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in Africa.

Good practice recommendations from this report include:

• testing parents for HIV (highest rates occur if routine testing of both parents is promoted. It requires a process of group counselling followed by same day testing and couple or counselling when giving results);
• involving men,
• issuing Nevirapine for mothers and infants;
• clarifying infant feeding messages;
• accessing CD4 counts;
• supplying Cotrimoxazole (together with provide supportive policies, training and supplies);
• ensuring safer delivery;
• integrating prevention activities with community activities;
• monitoring PMTCT program for program performance;
• sensitizing church leaders to PMTCT;
• scaling up; and
• communicating what the church is doing and achieving

The report (1.2MB) is available here