FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canada announces renewed commitment to maternal and child health

May 30, Toronto, Ottawa, CANADA The Government of Canadas commitment of another 3.5 billion
dollars (CAD) over the next five years to improve the health of mothers and children in the global South
is welcomed by the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) and the Interagency
Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD). The funding builds on a program known as the Muskoka
Initiative that was launched in 2010 to address the significant gaps that exist in maternal, newborn, and
child health in low-income countries.
We are encouraged by the Canadian governments pledge to continue to champion the issues that can
make a real difference in the lives of women and children. We expect that this will include a
commitment to work with partners to take on key barriers to womens full autonomy and access to
sexual and reproductive health and rights, said Robin Montgomery, Executive Director of ICAD.
Women are too often viewed solely through the lens of their roles as mothers, at the cost of their own
realities. This has especially been the case in the fight against HIV, where the rush to prevent new
infections among children has largely trumped the sexual and reproductive rights of women living with
HIV.
It is horrifying to hear of pregnant women [in 2014] being turned away or receiving differential or even
inhumane treatment from a hospital or clinic simply because they dared to get pregnant while living
with HIV, said Mary Ann Torres, Executive Director of ICASO. A recent study by ICASO, Stories of
Stigma, Stories of Hope, identified how across the prevention-treatment-care continuum stigma and
discrimination experienced by women living with HIV can result in reduced access to appropriate
interventions and impact womens own health-seeking behaviors. The World Health Organization
(WHO) cites AIDS as the number one killer of women of reproductive age worldwide a chilling
reminder of the deadly implications of the disease when stigma and discrimination prevail.
In 2011, UNAIDS devised a Global Plan towards the Elimination of New HIV Infections among Children by
2015 and Keeping their Mothers Alive. According to UNAIDS, in 2012 there were 700 new HIV infections
among children every day and a total of 3.3 million children under 15 years of age living with HIV.
Moreover, children are receiving treatment at half the rate of adults, thus preventing them from
enjoying active and healthy lives. As a result, 600 children died of AIDS-related illnesses every day in
2012. There is therefore an urgent need to scale up programs to keep women and children healthy,
while dramatically reducing the rate of vertical transmission of HIV.
UNAIDS believes that the Global Plan can succeed if:
All women, especially pregnant women, have access to quality life-saving HIV prevention and
treatment servicesfor themselves and their children.

The rights of women living with HIV are respected and women and their families and
communities are empowered to fully engage in ensuring their own health and especially the
health of their children.
Adequate resourceshuman and financialare available from both national and international
sources in a timely and predictable manner while acknowledging that success is a shared
responsibility.
HIV, maternal health, newborn and child health, and family planning programmes work
together, deliver quality results and lead to improved health outcomes.
Communities, in particular women living with HIV, enabled and empowered to support women
and their families to access the HIV prevention, treatment and care that they need.
Canada has a significant role to play in realizing the vision of the Global Plan up to and beyond 2015; the
countrys investment, leadership and focus on accountability and human rights will bring us one step
closer to Getting to Zero and keeping mothers, newborns and children alive and healthy is a key part
of that equation. ICASO and ICAD continue to be committed to working with the Canadian government
to facilitate the inclusion and leadership of communities in the response to HIV.

The governments funding announcement was made during the Saving Every Woman, Every Child:
Within Arms Reach Summit, in Toronto, Canada from May 28-30, 2014. The three-day global summit
provided an opportunity for Canadian and international partners to chart a course towards continued,
tangible results on maternal, newborn and child health beyond 2015.

-End-


Since its creation in 1991, ICASO has facilitated and advocated for the inclusion and leadership of
communities in the effort to bring about an end to the AIDS pandemic, recognizing the importance of
promoting health and human rights as part of this undertaking.


The Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development is a coalition of over 100 AIDS Service
organizations (ASOs), international development non-governmental organizations (INGOS), faith-based
organizations, educational institutions, labour unions and individuals committed to improving the
response to HIV and related co-infections in Canada and in countries globally.


Contact:
Mary Ann Torres
Executive Director, ICASO
(416) 921-0018
MaryAnnT@icaso.org

Robin Montgomery
Executive Director, Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD)
613 233 7440 (ext 113)
rmontgomery@icad-cisd.com