ViiV Healthcare’s Positive Action for Children’s Fund was launched in 2009 “to support and inform the global effort to alleviate the impact of HIV and AIDS on maternal and child health by supporting interventions that engage affected communities, developing their capacity to participate and lead.” The Fund is part of the company’s commitment to communities affected by HIV and AIDS and it is expected to invest $80 million for this cause over a period of ten years. The areas targeted by the Fund are:
- Pursuing community engagement, participation and leadership
- Using patient focused and family-centred approaches
- Integration between HIV services, and between HIV and sexual and reproductive health (S&RH) services
- Generating demand for S&RH and PMTCT services
- Using an evidence-base and delivering evidence-generation
- Supporting or delivering advocacy
The four elements based on the World Health Organization’s PMTCT strategy on which the projects of the Fund are based are given below:
“Primary prevention
Young (and other sexually active) people need access to sex education, sexual health services and primary HIV prevention: projects that successfully deliver these can contribute to reducing the numbers of HIV+ parents in successive generations.
Reproductive choice for PLHIV
People living with HIV should be able to enjoy sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing; as well as make informed choices about the timing and number of children, with access to the appropriate technologies: projects need to take a rights-based approach that can enhance mainstream services as well as targeting interventions that deliver the equitable treatment of people living with HIV.
PMTCT interventions
Mothers living with HIV need to be helped to prevent their babies becoming infected, by the use of ARV treatment and appropriate breastfeeding regimes: projects need to explore the implications of the latest guidance and research for implementation in this area.
Children and families
The infants, children and adolescents born into families affected by HIV, both infected and uninfected, have a variety of needs: projects can impact on early testing and treatment, how young people cope with their status and treatment requirements, the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and the health and welfare of children and young people whose families and opportunities have been affected by HIV.”
The Fund has launched two Requests for Proposals.
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