South Africa
The Columbia University SON WHO Center has been involved for two years in the educational development and training of nurse-midwives in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) in the areas of primary care and HIV/AIDS prevention, diagnosis and treatment. KZN is the center of the worldwide HIV epidemic with an antenatal prevalence of 40% infection. Nurse-midwives are centrally positioned as the primary providers of healthcare for women to provide critical intervention strategies for women and children. On-going work is focused on promoting midwives'abilities to give leadership in prevention strategies, issues of mother-to-child transmission, including breastfeeding, and treatment with antiretroviral medications.