Photo: #Pregnant women wait for pre-natal care at a clinic in Malakal in southern Sudan. The women will also have the option to take an HIV test. If the test is positive, they'll receive medication for themselves and their newborns to help prevent transmission of the virus.
Photo: #Homes in the town of Malakal in southern Sudan. The town is home to about 100,000 people.
Photo: #American Refugee Committee staff hold HIV test kits at a pre-natal clinic in Malakal, Sudan. All pregnant women who come to the clinic can get tested. The test takes about 10 minutes for a result. The U.N. says it has made "good progress" in preventing mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus.
Photo: #Minneapolis-based American Refugee Committee will soon start providing HIV-prevention services at a hospital in Malakal, Sudan. ARC already offers the service at a clinic in the town.

U.N. reports progress preventing spread of HIV to newborns

by Tom Crann, Minnesota Public Radio
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Tuesday is World AIDS Day and All Things Considered talked with a Minnesotan who is just back from the front lines of the AIDS crisis.

Around the world, an estimated 33 million people have HIV or AIDS. About 2 million of those are children. The United Nations AIDS Program reports 2 million people died from the disease last year.

But, among the bright spots in the fight against AIDS is that the U.N. now reports "good progress" in preventing the transmission of HIV from mothers to children.

Katie Anfinson has been working on ways to do just that. She is the Reproductive Health Coordinator for the Minnesota-based American Refugee Committee and she is just back from a visit to new clinic in Sudan that serves pregnant women who are HIV-positive.

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