Health
Example of a Southern Africa Fellow working in the Health sector
Dr. Mitch Besser (Mitchell)
Project Name: mothers2mothers (m2m)
In 2008, President George Bush awarded Mitch Besser with one of the highest honor that the United States government grants to its citizens, the Presidential Citizens Medal. He was recognized for his work with m2m (Mothers2Mothers) and for developing innovative strategies to reduce mother-to-child transmission. Mothers2mothers was started in 2001 and identifies HIV-positive mothers as a valuable, underutilized resource for strengthening public health care systems in the fight for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.
Mothers2mothers has developed from this single support-group in Cape Town to a multinational NGO employing 1500 HIV-positive mothers who work in almost 500 sites in 7 countries. Each month, more babies are born with HIV in one busy clinic in Africa than in one year in the United States, Canada and England combined. Treatment to prevent the infection of newborns in the developed world involves a drug regimen for both the mother and her newborn. While these same clinical solutions are now available in Africa, their impact and effectiveness for HIV-positive mothers is less successful without complementary social, emotional and psychological support. Mothers2mothers (m2m) helps save these children and their mothers by offering essential psychological support. M2m is an innovative mentoring program offering comprehensive support for HIV-positive pregnant women and new mothers.
