Prevention of Vertical Transmission
The prevention of vertical transmission or prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT), as it is also known, has become a cornerstone of HIV-prevention programming across the world. National AIDS programs have seen it as an important element of strengthening primary health care services as it relates to antenatal care, seeing the routine offering of HIV testing of women at antenatal clinics as central to their AIDS responses.
In June 2011, the United Nations General Assembly agreed to the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and to substantially reduce AIDS-related maternal deaths.
While prevention of vertical transmission has proven highly effective, it has not been brought to scale. Research has shown there are a range of barriers to prevention of vertical transmission including fear of knowing one's HIV status; stigma from the community; lack of male partners' support for women accessing the services; gender-based violence and disclosure; negative attitudes of health workers; availability of antiretroviral drugs and infant formula; inadequacy of physical infrastructure and staff shortages to deliver services; challenges in the supply systems; unmet training needs of the health staff and capacity of healthcare workers to deliver PMTCT, among others.
Notably, discussion in the literature on stigma and discrimination focuses on stigma in communities, as well as general stigma towards people living with HIV in healthcare settings, but rarely focuses on the stigma experienced by women living with HIV because they are pregnant. The International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW) has been breaking the silence on this issue, calling policy makers’ attention to barriers to accessing prevention of vertical transmission programs for women living with HIV in antenatal settings around the world.
Our work in this area aims to the quality of prevention of vertical transmission services for women living with HIV, with a particular focus on addressing stigma and rights violations against them within a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health approach with the aim of ending vertical transmission.
