In June 2008 the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation (RVF) was requested by the Minister of Health of Azerbaijan, Dr. Oktay Shiraliyev, to aid in the establishment of a program to prevent the transmission of HIV and hepatitis B from mother to newborn. Hepatitis B and HIV/AIDS are two of the major diseases of mankind and are serious global health problems. Every Western country has robust programs to prevent the viruses hepatitis B and HIV/AIDS from being transmitted from pregnant women to their newborn babies at the time of birth. Azerbaijan lacks the capability to prevent the transmission of these terrible diseases. In response to the urgency and gravity of the problem, the RVF is partnering with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health (MOH) to launch a program of prevention and treatment in February 2009.

As with all RVF-supported programs, this new program will be implemented entirely through the existing public health infrastructure by Azerbaijani health care workers, so that from the very start the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health and local healthcare workers have full ownership of the program. The program has been endorsed by the minister of health for continued funding by government sources beginning in 2011. This requirement of sustainability is an inherent part of all RVF programs in the country.

The RVF has a 5-year history of successful public health programs in Azerbaijan, the birthplace of RVF-founder Maestro Mstislav Rostropovich, who is a public icon in the country. Working in collaboration with the MOH, the RVF has made it possible for almost 4 million Azerbaijani citizens to be vaccinated. This was accomplished through its ongoing routine measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination program for children, as well as the mass immunization campaign against measles and rubella in 2006. In addition the RVF has contributed to the vaccine storage and distribution of the country. The RVF is in the process of modernizing the surveillance of emerging and dangerous infections throughout the country by providing computers, software and training. Lastly, the RVF has launched a robust deworming program for schoolchildren. To date nearly 266,000 children have been treated with an additional 100,000 children enrolled in the program in October 2008. At a press conference in Baku in November 2008 Minister Shiraliyev acknowledged the lasting contribution the RVF has made to the health and wellbeing of children in Azerbaijan and affirmed the high priority of the new program to strengthen the capacity of the public health system to protect babies from acquiring HIV and hepatitis B from their mothers.