World Health Organization. STI HIV Antenatal Clinic STI Survey. Manila WHO.

In 2003 three 12 year old girls attended the Port Vila Antenatal clinic.

Antenatal visits are free and dietary supplements of iron are provided to expectant mothers.

Information on contraception is also given to all women who come to these centers for antenatal or postnatal visits.

When an HIV positive mother receives antenatal treatment so that her child can be born HIV free, we change the future.

The ACSD initiative is scaling up packages of cost effective interventions, including immunization and antenatal care, in 11 countries in West Africa.

12.18 Nationally, approximately 93 per cent of pregnant women receive some form of antenatal care with an average of four visits per woman.

12.40 According to Grace Vurobaravu (2002), approximately 50 per cent of women attending first visit antenatal clinics will have one or more sexually transmitted infections.

These figures are limited only to those who attend antenatal care and the figure is likely to be much higher if figures for those who visit private practitioners are included.

The Government is making efforts to procure and ensure the distribution to all health facilities of essential drugs and equipment for antenatal and postnatal care and for the effective management of childhood illnesses.

While national data is not available, data from the Port Vila Central Hospital suggests that 12 per cent of women attending antenatal clinics in 2001 and 15 per cent in 2002 were teenagers.

The funding provides for coordinated clinical care and population health, as well as health promotion activities including screening, antenatal services and maternal and child health, to facilitate illness prevention, early interventions and effective illness management.

For example, Papua New Guinea now has the highest reported rate of HIV infection in Oceania, with an estimated HIV prevalence of almost 1 per cent among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Port Moresby.

The Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), had made contraceptives available in those three major regions and women were encouraged to attend family planning centres, which were based in the antenatal clinics.

Through focus area 1, UNICEF will support maternal mortality reduction through support for antenatal care, strengthening of health systems, and the promotion of breastfeeding and child spacing, and through data driven, evidence based advocacy and partnerships on maternal health issues.