Fact of the Week: $15 prevents transmission

Did you know?

It costs just $15 to reach one woman with the services she needs to prevent HIV transmission to her child.

Most (90 percent) of the children infected with HIV every day receive the virus from their mothers. Half of these children die before their second birthdays because they do not have access to the treatment they need.

Two ways HIV/AIDS can be prevented include mother to unborn baby and through breast milk.

Organizations like the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, one of the causes we raise money for, works to prevent mother-to-child transmission in several ways.

1. EGPAF tests pregnant women for HIV and counsels them to make sure they have access to prevention, care and safe treatment.
2. They provide antiretroviral medicines to women who test HIV-positive and their babies to reduce the risk of transmission.
3. EGPAF also provides these services to breastfeeding mothers.

For about the same price as a meal at the BU dining hall, you can save one child from receiving HIV from his or her mother.

Click here to learn more about EGPAF's transmission prevention program.