Today on World AIDS Day, mothers2mothers (m2m) joins UNAIDS to highlight the importance of human rights in the fight to end AIDS. A new UNAIDS report shows how ensuring everyone’s rights are protected leads to markedly improved HIV outcomes. Yet, every day at m2m, we meet people who struggle to exercise their right to health—with barriers including critically under-resourced health systems, gender inequality, stigma, and poverty. As Faustina Ocansey, Mentor Mother Team Lead at m2m Ghana shares below, m2m strives to break down these barriers and ensure everyone can access and stay connected to the care they need for a healthy, thriving future.

In my community in Ghana, HIV-related stigma, discrimination, and misinformation can frighten and discourage people from accessing lifesaving treatment and staying in care.

I know how challenging these barriers can be. I found out I was living with HIV shortly after giving birth to my sixth child. Rumours started spreading in the community about my HIV status and people stopped buying from my shop because they believed I would infect them through the food I cooked. I had already lost my husband and one of my children to HIV and tuberculosis (TB). As a single mother, I could no longer pay for my children’s school fees and they were forced to drop out of school. 

Thankfully, I refused to give up on myself, my children, my community, and my rights. I took my treatment regularly and I volunteered to help others living with HIV. When m2m started operations in Ghana in 2019, I exercised not only my right to health but also my right to work, employed and paid as an m2m community health worker to provide health services and support so women and families can access the care they need.

The part of my job I love the most is sharing my personal experience with clients. Seeing them gain hope and become motivated to stay in care and adhere to their treatment, overcoming the barriers they face, is incredibly fulfilling.

When we stand up for the right to health, the results are remarkable. Since m2m started working in Ghana, stigma has been reduced and there has been a positive impact on mother-to-child transmission of HIV (MTCT) at the health facility where I work. In fact overall, m2m achieved a 0% MTCT rate among our enrolled clients for the first time last year, together with our partners.* This is a huge milestone and proof of the impact of our work.   

Every human being has the right to health. It is central to our ability to exercise all our rights and live life with dignity. As m2m is demonstrating in Ghana and the 10 other countries where we operate, when we ensure communities take the lead, they empower themselves to break barriers, reduce stigma, improve access to health care, and achieve better health results for everyone.  

Please join me today and every day in making this a reality for people everywhere. Together, we can end AIDS.

*Only sites that use fully digital data collection were included in this analysis, meaning selected projects in Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania were not included.