File:Hardworking Midwives at the Dila Health Center (9575336314).jpg

Hardworking health workers, like the midwives pictured here, are key to the work of IntraHealth's Community Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission project, which is supported by USAID Ethiopia and PEPFAR. Tracking of HIV+ mothers and HIV exposed babies can be onerous for health center staff, as these women may have long distances to travel to the health center and no address or phone number to followed up. Other issues such as staff turnover have a huge effect on quality of care. When health center staff are assigned to remote areas, there is a high chance that they will want to transfer somewhere else at the first opportunity. With turnover comes gaps in training and inconsistency when it comes to tracking and reporting on HIV positive patients. Finally, budgets are inconsistent. When the health center lacks money in the budget, then drugs will not be purchased, ambulances will not have fuel, and staff cannot be hired. It is key to keep quality trained staff in their positions for long enough to ensure consistency of care, particularly for vulnerable patient populations.