Prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission programmes

Ninety per cent of HIV infections in children under the age of 15 are caused by mother-to-child transmission of HIV during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding. In high-income countries introduction of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programmes substantially reduce the rate of transmission of HIV from mothers to infants. In a recent systematic review published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Lorraine Car and Colleagues examined the effectiveness of integrated PMTCT programmes compared to non-integrated and partially integrated care. They found very little evidence of evidence on this area and suggested that additional research is needed to allow clinicians and policy makers to make a definitive conclusion about the effectiveness of integration of PMTCT interventions with other health services.