A worldwide 1,000-day countdown begins today and has the potential to accelerate efforts to save and improve millions of lives by the end of 2015.

Ending AIDS starts with stopping the transmission of pediatric AIDS. We know this because we have done so, here in the United States and in much of Europe, and Asia. But we're not there yet.

In her final blog, Nozi shares her joy by introducing the best gift she could ever receive this holiday season -- a beautiful baby daughter.

With the information and support she received from m2m Mentor Mothers, Nozi was able to prevent transmission of the HIV virus to her child and give birth to a healthy baby boy.

During this holiday season, mothers2mothers (m2m) -- an NGO that works to eliminate pediatric AIDS and keep HIV-positive mothers alive in sub-Saharan Africa -- shares the story of someone who is very special to them in three video blogs.

"What a gift I was given -- to find the passion of my life at 48 years old when I'd had a successful career."

There is optimism among global health leaders that we are seeing the beginning of the end of AIDS. But we won't get there without the public support that comes from knowing it is within our grasp -- and the political will to make it happen.

On my way to our tiny airport in Maseru, I couldn't believe that in just a couple of days I would be speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C. I am 37 years-old and I was finally fulfilling my lifelong dream of traveling to America.

HIV and children is still very much an issue we need to pay attention to. And as a generation of HIV-positive children grows into adolescence and adulthood, they still have a lot to teach us.

I'll never forget the phone call that saved my children's lives. It was a new doctor. She was quick to the point. She said, "Something in your son's blood work warrants an AIDS test. I suggest your whole family be tested."

We have the technology, the medicine, and the resources to have a generation born HIV-free -- we can work together to see the beginning of the end of AIDS by 2015.

The news that a 13-year-old-boy has been banned from attending a school in Pennsylvania because he is HIV-positive brought back a flood of memories from an earlier and darker time in the history of the AIDS pandemic.

As employees of mothers2mothers, mothers living with HIV are trained to educate and support newly-diagnosed pregnant women -- to help them stay healthy and take the necessary steps to avoid transmitting HIV to their babies.

A baby is born with HIV every 90 seconds and half of all children with the virus die before age 2. This is simply unacceptable, especially when we have the knowledge and ability for every mother with HIV to have a healthy baby.