HIV infection between mother and child occurs when an infected mother transmitted the HIV to the child during pregnancy, birth as well as during the breastfeeding period. Despite the fact that HIV is not a major cause of high mortality rate among the infants in the developed nations, it is important to indicate that is a life threatening diseases and a major cause of increased mortality rates in children in the developed nations ( World Health Organization et al., 2015) . It is also important to indicate that transmission of HIV from the mother to the infant is the primary source of HIV infection for individuals below fifteen years. As a result of the health challenges that children suffer from HIV transmission from the mother while some die before they reach the teenage age, different government agencies and non-governmental organizations in the world have developed numerous programs that aim at eliminating the mother-to child HIV infection rates.
How the United States ranks on this issue in relation to other countries
Despite that fact that the US as a developed country has significantly managed to reduce the HIV transmission rates between an infected mother and the child. It is important to indicate that the country still records cases of child infection as well as the death of children infected during pregnancy, during labor, birth as well as during the breast feeding period ( World Health Organization et al., 2015) . The US has progressively managed to bring down the numbers of infections resulting from maternal infection through the various preventive programs that have been established by the US health sector. For example, in 2013, the country recorded a total number of sixty nine HIV infected infants which is relatively low when compared with other developed as well as developing nations ( Ehiri, 2016) . It is also important to indicate that the sub-Saharan Africa are regions over burdened in matters relating to prevention of mother to child HIV infection ( Ehiri, 2016) . In this case, countries in this region record relatively high numbers of infection cases when compared with the developed nations such as the US. For example, statistics indicate that in every year in sub-Saharan Africa, more than half a million newborn children are HIV positive as a result of maternal infection. In addition to the high rates of HIV infection maternal infection in the sub-Saharan Africa, it is important to indicate that Nigeria is one of the leading nations with high HIV infection rates. For example, existing literature indicates that in 2011, approximately 4 40,000 children who were under 15 years in Nigeria were living with HIV ( Ehiri, 2016) .
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World Health Organization Efforts
The World Health Organization in collaboration with the different agencies from different countries has significantly engaged in the prevention and reduction of the rates of infections resulting from mother to child transmission. The WHO have developed numerous programs that apply to all the nation with the aim of reducing the infection rates. For example, the organization recommends for the HIV testing of expectant mothers during the antenatal clinic which in turn helps in reducing cases of infection that result from an unknown status of infected mothers ( World Health Organization et al., 2015) . Additionally, the WHO also recommends the virological testing which is carried out when a child born of an infected mother reaches two months old, the test aims at establishing the HIV status of the child and if the child is positive, immediate treatment is started before the child is four months old. It is also important to indicate that the WHO recommends the treating of pregnant women with antiretroviral medicines to ensure that they are healthy as well as to ensure the safety of the unborn child ( World Health Organization et al., 2015) . The above strategies among other strategies have significantly aided in reducing the infection rates that arise from mother to child infection which has also played a significant role in reducing infant mortality rates that arise from HIV infection ( World Health Organization et al., 2015) .
References
Ehiri, J. (2016). Maternal and child health: Global challenges, programs, and policies . New York: Springer-Verlag
World Health Organization., World Health Organization., UNICEF., United Nations Population Fund., & Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. (2015). Towards the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV: Conceptual framework for the Middle East and North Africa Region . Cairo, Egypt: World Health Organization, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.
