Project profile — Enhancing the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV

This project, also known as INSPIRE (INtegration and Scaling up Prevention of mother-to-child transmission through Implementation REsearch), aims to directly contribute to the global elimination of the mother-to-child transmission of HIV by providing sustained support in countries with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Specifically, the project aims to: (1) increase the uptake and effective implementation of interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV; (2) promote a more integrated and comprehensive approach to the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV; (3) link district-level program effectiveness studies to the strengthening of national programs; and (4) reduce the number of infants becoming infected with HIV and improve the health of HIV-infected mothers. To achieve these objectives, the program supports six research teams (two research teams in Zimbabwe, two in Nigeria, and two in Malawi) that focus on integrating health programming approaches and communications technologies, such as text messaging, for better facility-level follow-up. The project builds on CIDA's longstanding support to the World Health Organization (WHO) HIV/AIDS department, and is part of the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI).

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Results achieved as of May 2013 include: The key start-up activities of the program were successfully implemented in all three countries including: protocols were finalized, contracts were awarded, standard operating procedures were developed, sites were selected and local district authorities and individual clinics were sensitized, local community structures were engaged, and the formative research that has informed the development of study tools and training materials (e.g. training materials for mother-mentors and other voluntary health workers) was finalized.