FUNDING ORGANIZATION	RESEARCH ORGANIZATION	PROGRAM	DIRECTOR	CITY	COUNTRY	ABSTRACT
	SIDA	AFRICAN MEDICAL AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION	EVALUATING REAL LIFE EFFECTIVENESS OF WHO´S GUIDELINES FOR PREVENTION OF MOTHER TO CHILD TRANSMISSION OF HIV IN AFRICAN HEALTH SYSTEMS	EKSTRÖM, ANNA MIA	NAIROBI	KENYA	View
Almost all of the 1.8 million children living with HIV contracted the infection from their mothers during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding. Without interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) on average 1/3 of children will be infected. With treatment this can be reduced to less than 5%. However, two central dimensions hinder such efficacious methods; weak health systems and socio-cultural barriers. The aim is to identify factors that hinder effective PMTCT and to evaluate real-life effectiveness of WHO’s new guidelines for PMTCT. A prospective cohort of HIV positive pregnant women will be followed in rural Busia, Kenya and an observational effectiveness study of the new PMTCT regimens will be performed in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The findings will contribute evidence on how to make the implementation of PMTCT more accessible, effective and sustainable in Africa.
	SIDA	AFRICAN MEDICAL AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION	MAKE IT WORK BY INCREASING HIV TESTING, PMTCT AND ART PROGRAM RETENTION IN CHALLENGED HEALTH SYSTEMS IN SUB SAHARAN AFRICA	THORSON, ANNA	NAIROBI	KENYA
	SIDA	AFRICAN MEDICAL AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION	OPTIMIZING PMTCT COVERAGE AND INTEGRATION USING MOBILE PHONE SMS MESSAGING AND INNOVATIVE VISUALIZATION TECHNOLOGY IN KENYA	EKSTRÖM, ANNA MIA	NAIROBI	KENYA	View
There is an urgent need to identify best practices in terms of health system strengthening to boost earlier advances in the area of maternal neonatal and child health (MNCH) and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). Increased coverage of available and low-cost MNCH and PMTCT interventions could cut child mortality by 2/3 and maternal mortality by ¾. Evidence-based decision-making and resource allocation for achieving continuous health services during pregnancy and the neonatal period for HIV positive women in resource-poor, high-risk urban settings in Africa, emerge as tipping points for the millennium development goals. The rapidly expanding mobile phone market in Africa offers a window of opportunity to use new eHealth solutions in an innovative way to strengthen health service delivery in resource-poor health systems. We will use a community intervention trial design to assess the effect of combining evidence-based mobile phone technology and best practice models for PMTCT and health systems strengthening, on coverage, effectiveness and quality of PMTCT in 4 urban slum settlements in Kibera, Nairobi covering 175,000 people. The interventions include mobile phone message support (WelTel) from midwives to women via community health workers (CHWs), capacity building among CHWs and staff to improve quality of care, and, visualization of health data on program coverage using innovative E-tools to facilitate evidence-based planning.