What to know
- Presentation Day/Time: Thursday, April 24, 1:25–1:45 pm
- Presenter: Hannah Canepa, DO, MPH, MS, EIS officer assigned to the Global Health Center, Division of Global HIV and TB
What did we do?
- We evaluated maternal HIV retesting performance in 4 CDC-PEPFAR country programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. The retesting was reviewed during 2 time-points: pregnancy and breastfeeding.
- We calculated retesting uptake by comparing number of HIV-retests during pregnancy and breastfeeding to number of women who tested HIV-negative at first antenatal-care visit, disaggregated by 10–19 years (adolescent-girls), 20–24 years (young-women), and 25–49 years (adult-women). We calculated the proportion of HIV-positive retests of adolescent girls & young women and adult woman, among all HIV-positive retests.
What did we find?
- Maternal retesting was reported less frequently than per national guidelines. Nearly half of those who tested HIV-positive during pregnancy or breastfeeding were adolescent girls & young women. Adolescent girls were retested less frequently than young women and adult women during breastfeeding.
- 644,318 HIV-retests were performed in women during pregnancy and 325,884 during breastfeeding.
- Adolescent girls & young women constituted 46% of total retests and 44% of total positive tests.
- Overall, retesting uptake during pregnancy was 49% and during breastfeeding was 25%.
- Retesting uptake during pregnancy was 44% in adolescent girls, 47% in young women and 52% in adult women; and during breastfeeding was 17% in adolescent girls, 24% in young women and 28% in adult women.
Why does it matter?
- Women can acquire HIV during pregnancy and breastfeeding. In many high-HIV-burden countries national guidelines recommend women testing HIV-negative at first antenatal-care visit (ANC1) are retested in pregnancy and postpartum to identify incident maternal infection and prevent vertical transmission to babies.
- Strengthening maternal retesting efforts may improve maternal health and prevent vertical transmission.
Abstract Category: Global Health, HIV, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health