“Twenty years ago, HIV was a life-threatening condition in my country, and people feared for their lives. People died in large numbers and the economy was also affected negatively as a great number of youths who would make up a new generation of workforce succumbed to AIDS related illnesses. Now, Lesotho has reached HIV epidemic control and communities are more knowledgeable on how to prevent new HIV infections. For those who are living with HIV, most are stable, adhering to treatment, and are virally suppressed.
"With PEPFAR’s support, mothers2mothers (m2m) has been operating in Lesotho for over 15 years and our work has evolved to meet the changing needs of the communities we serve. When we first started, we had a dedicated focus on ending mother-to-child transmission. That’s still a big part of our work, but we now also provide integrated services encompassing primary prevention, testing, treatment dispensing, and adherence support for entire families. We help tackle related conditions like cervical cancer and TB, including clinical services. We are also providing targeted support to adolescent girls and young women through the USAID DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe) initiative, which seeks to empower clients aged 15-24 through youth-friendly reproductive health, education, HIV testing, treatment, and family-centered services.
With prevalence levels of over 25%, HIV is still a big issue in our communities, but today we have the knowledge, medication, and role models to help us stop new infections and ensure those living with HIV have long, healthy lives.” -Mpolokeng Mohloa
Our work puts those closest to challenges at the heart of the solution. Our frontline team of community health workers—known as Mentor Mothers—are all women living with HIV, trained and employed to serve their communities by delivering integrated primary health care services designed to end AIDS and tackle related conditions, like TB and cervical cancer.
Over the past 20 years, m2m’s Mentor Mother Model has helped keep 1.17 million at-risk women and almost one million at-risk children alive – and has achieved virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV among m2m’s enrolled clients. All while creating jobs for nearly 12,000 women.
And because services are provided by true peers, those we serve can more easily understand and embrace the changes they must make, inspired by our frontline staff, who are living testaments of success.
Our work puts those closest to challenges at the heart of the solution. Our frontline team of community health workers—known as Mentor Mothers—are all women living with HIV, trained and employed to serve their communities by delivering integrated primary health care services designed to end AIDS and tackle related conditions, like TB and Cervical Cancer. Our model works because communities trust us to provide the services families need, where and when they need them. Mentor Mothers have a deep understanding of the social and cultural challenges that their clients face on their journey to good health, and through trust and shared experience can support clients to overcome barriers to care. Because our services are provided by true peers, those we serve can more easily understand and embrace the changes they must make, inspired by our frontline staff, who are living testaments of success.
A group of Mentor Mothers and mothers-to-be
We’ve proven—time and again—that African women hold the key to ending AIDS. Through our locally-led, peer-based model, we’ve achieved virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV for eight consecutive years, and helped over four million at-risk adults remain HIV-negative since 2013. Since we started in 2001, we’ve also created over 12,000 jobs for women living with HIV as community health workers. In 2021, we exceeded the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets, with 97% of our pregnant and breastfeeding clients testing for HIV at a health facility, 100% of those testing positive accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 97% achieving viral suppression. Thank you PEPFAR for helping to make this progress possible!
A Mentor Mother and a client
Mothers2mothers, Lesotho
Years as a USAID/PEPFAR partner: 17 (7 as a sub and 10 as a prime)