Every Dec. 1 for the past 10 years, the global health community has officially commemorated the struggle to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. Wealthy countries benefit from tremendous human, financial and technological resources for preventing and treating HIV/AIDS, while many of our colleagues and the people they serve in poor settings around the world continue to face enormous challenges in fighting the epidemic. While the resources dedicated to HIV/AIDS in the developing world have increased substantially over the past several years, and considerable progress has been made in the area of access to antiretroviral therapy, much remains to be done, particularly in prevention of new infections.

According to the latest figures, an estimated 33 million people are living with HIV. Among them, nearly half are women and 5 percent are children. Nearly 3 million people died of AIDS in 2006, a rate of 8,000 per day. Even with the considerable advances in our understanding of this disease over the years, these alarming statistics continue to challenge our efforts.

One area of particular concern is mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV. MTCT is now rare in the United States because most women are tested for HIV during prenatal care, we have access to antiretroviral treatment options to reduce the likelihood of transmission during pregnancy and birth, and there is clean water for replacement (formula) feeding so that there is no risk of breastfeeding transmission.

However, MTCT rates are still high in most other African countries. Last year alone, 500,000 children were newly infected with HIV — 90 percent of them living in sub-Saharan Africa. Mother-to-child transmission is by far the most common route of HIV transmission to newborns and infants. Unless preventive measures are taken, 25 to 45 percent of HIV-infected pregnant women will pass the virus on to their newborns during pregnancy or childbirth, or through breastfeeding. It is certainly possible to sharply reduce MTCT rates in low-resource settings. In Botswana, the first African country to make HIV testing routine and antiretroviral therapy available free of charge, MTCT rates are now below 4 percent.

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JHPIEGO, an international health organization affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University, is working to apply some of the lessons we have learned around the world to reduce MTCT rates. JHPIEGO partners with national governments and non governmental organizations to create innovative and creative approaches to health care service delivery, while strengthening the knowledge, skills and capabilities of the health work force. JHPIEGO works in several sub-Saharan African countries and in Haiti to reduce MTCT by promoting practices such as HIV counseling and testing, the use of antiretroviral drugs to reduce the viral load of the mother, the promotion of safe childbirth practices and counseling on safe infant feeding.

Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV is just one way that JHPIEGO is working to change the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS around the world. We work with local governments and organizations to increase their knowledge about how to prevent this deadly disease from spreading, how to treat and care for men, women and children who are infected, and how to train health care providers to share such knowledge and skills with others.

As we consider others this World AIDS Day, let’s not forget our good fortune. We live in a country that has made tremendous advances in fighting this epidemic. While JHPIEGO staff and colleagues travel the world partnering with countries to translate knowledge into action, all of us should continue to spread the knowledge here at home as well. Know your status, as well as that of your partner. Encourage your family and friends to get tested. Lower your risk for infection. And finally, remember the less fortunate and support organizations working to end the spread of this preventable disease around the world.

Leslie Mancuso is president and CEO of JHPIEGO.