2017-2026

MOTHERS AT THE FRONTLINE OF COMMUNITY HEALTH

2017-2026

Mothers2mothers

mothers2mothers (m2m) employs women living with HIV to help other women and families in their community access essential health services and medical care. Since 2001, m2m has served more than 15 million women and children across 12 African countries, has created jobs for nearly 12,000 women living with HIV, and has helped to prevent over 4.3 million HIV infections. Our funding allowed m2m to expand its services in Uganda, including early childhood development, paediatric care, and adolescent mentoring. Since 2022 we have funded m2m efforts to deliver integrated primary health care services to the families who need them most across sub-Saharan Africa.

www.m2m.org

CHALLENGE

Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest maternal and child mortality rate. Two out of three mothers who die during pregnancy or birth are from the region. Many of these deaths occur in rural areas where access to health services is limited. Most of them are preventable.

ACTION

m2m trains and employs women living with HIV as community health workers—called Mentor Mothers—in severely under-served communities. Mentor Mothers work at health centres, in their communities, and virtually through eServices to support women, children, adolescents and entire families to access necessary healthcare. Preventing HIV infection and related diseases is a key focus of the programme. Mentor Mothers’ services span pregnancy, breastfeeding and early childhood development to ensure babies are born, and stay, HIV-free. The model is also being deepened and expanded to address related health conditions, such as tuberculosis, non-communicable diseases, and cervical cancer.

Trained Adolescent Peer Educators work in the same communities to educate adolescent girls and young women about sexual and reproductive health.

IMPACT

Since 2014, m2m has achieved virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV among their enrolled clients. Estimated child mortality was reduced to 2 per 1,000 live births for enrolled clients by 2020, (20 times lower than the average).

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