mothers2mothers
Reducing the transmission risk of HIV from a mother to her infant is a straightforward process. A single dose of medication to a mother during labor, and a dose to her infant shortly after birth, can cut transmission risk nearly in half.1 But in sub-Saharan Africa, where medical care can be a half-day’s walk from home, pregnant women with HIV/AIDS do not consistently have access to these medicines and frequently pass the virus to their newborns. There are more than 1.3 million pregnant women living with HIV in Africa.2 Without any interventions, 40% of those women are expected to have HIV-positive babies.1
South Africa-based nongovernmental organization, mothers2mothers (m2m), provides life-sustaining drugs, counseling, and educational services to HIV-positive pregnant women—helping to prevent the spread of HIV to the next generation. Each year, m2m counsels more than 1.5 million women in nine countries across sub-Saharan Africa.
HP is working with m2m to transform its information technology (IT) infrastructure and develop new processes for information access and management. These changes are designed to support the sustainable growth of the organization and enhance the services it is able to provide. In 2010, HP began working with m2m to assess its business processes and prioritize its technology plans. In 2011, HP plans to help m2m implement the large-scale changes.
New database technology and cloud and mobile services from HP are expected to help m2m migrate its current paper-based patient records system to a digital environment. This will enable more effective sharing of information across the m2m network of more than 700 sites. Not only will this increase m2m’s reporting capabilities, it will enable quicker access to critical information. The organization will be in a better position to make even more timely decisions to improve the health of their patients—and their patients’ unborn children.
In the next planned phase of the program, m2m employees will be able to collect and share data via basic mobile phones, supporting an “always connected” environment. This will enable employees to collect data more efficiently from patients and, over time, will help the operation scale to meet the demands of more patients.
More information
- Read the HP press release.
- Learn how HP is working with the Clinton Health Access Initiative to speed up HIV test results and diagnosis for infants in Kenya.
With technological expertise from HP, we can modernize our paper-based infrastructure to a highly efficient digital model, allowing us to meet the growing demand for our services and put information directly into the hands of our Mentor Mothers. This new system will enable us to serve women much more effectively through improved knowledge and insight.
- 1Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), Avert.
- 2"Towards universal access: Scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector,"
World Health Organization, September 2010.