GEORGE STRAIT: In what was described as a major announcement, the Columbia University School of Public Health and a coalition of private funders, including the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation, told the delegate that forty sites of Asia and Africa will be receiving more than $50 million to treat HIV-positive pregnant mothers, their children, and their families, in a program called MTCT-Plus.

MALE SPEAKER: We are hoping through this program to treat the women, their HIV-positive children, their HIV-positive partner. This is a family initiative, which we start by focusing on women. And I should add, because we’ve been questioned, we think it would not be ethical to ask HIV-positive health workers to embark on a treatment initiative without making treatment services available to HIV-positive health workers as well.

FEMALE SPEAKER: The goal is that this HIV care program will able to continual, not just antiretroviral therapy, but all the components of care that people with HIV need, the clinical care, the psychosocial support, the adherent support, the outreach, the community linkages, all the components of care that people with HIV need in order to survive with HIV and to stay healthy and to remain with families in these communities.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Thank you very much for all of you who are weathering commitment to make the MTCT program a reality today and giving hope to the millions of our sisters, children, and families around the world. I would also like to thank Columbia University for inviting me here today to participate in the launch of the MTCT-Plus program, which is crucial, not only for the treatment of infected mothers, but also to the mothers and their families. I’m particularly honored that Rwanda was identified among the 12 countries where this program would be launched (MS?) if he promotes the family and community efforts, rather than individual efforts, working to destroy the isolation of an infected person in his or her family, or an infected family, or those affected in their community. We are aware that the silence around the disease and the isolation of the infected and affected person are vehicles of stigmatization and discrimination. We’ve seen in our country program how a comprehensive, community-based program can help to end this.

FEMALE SPEAKER: From my experience, I have lived with anxiety and worries, not knowing whether my foster children are with HIV or not. And because of the fear, and as such, that I would have no other step to take after knowing their state, after knowing their status, I have children who live in denial of the fact that, fearing the fact that by knowing the truth, that they could be with HIV, it would worsen my situation. As a woman and as a mother representing millions of women with HIV in Africa, I bring the reality and the complexity in our family and household. In 1999, when my partner eventually managed to get onto retroviral therapy, there was hope in our family. The feelings of guilt and fear every time he became ill healed eventually. Over time, the situation became that of being another staple, the desire to have a child is (MS?). Six months ago, we were blessed with a little, baby girl, who up to today, we know that she’s HIV free, at least as per the last three tests. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a wish for millions of women and men out there. I’m a lucky woman, I must say, because of my activism, and because of the facts that are now (MS?) that I was able to have choices. Not many women have these choices. The MTCT-Plus initiative today is the hope of so many of us. We can hope, for myself as a mother with HIV, as I sit in this chair, I can see myself coming out of this conference with another bold step to take, and that is to test my foster children. And I will do that because I can see light and I can see hope.

FEMALE SPEAKER: We think this is a tremendously important initiative because it really makes practical one of the things that we’ve talked about a lot here at this conference, and that’s the integration of prevention with care initiatives. And I think that this is building on a wonderful foundation that we already have in the area of preventing mother-to-child transmission.

FEMALE SPEAKER: MTCT-Plus moves us from saving babies to building families by providing treatment to HIV-positive parents and enabling them to stay alive and healthy to care for and nurture their children.

MALE SPEAKER: And perhaps, also, a first in history, because for once, one could say that it will be women who benefit the first from a new technology, from a new initiative, HIV treatment.

FEMALE SPEAKER: We will be able to treat, probably, about 10,000, provide HIV care to about 10,000 individuals. That includes women and their families.