By Prajakta Dhapte
Prenatal testing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a crucial method for preventing the transmission from mother to baby.
“CDC stats show that, the sooner a pregnant woman gets linked to care or intervention, her chances of delivering a HIV infected baby is reduced to a mere 1 percent,” said Marcie McClellan at the State of the Public’s Health Conference in Athens, Georgia, on October 17th.
Although there has been a significant drop in the number of perinatal HIV infections since the 1990s, it still remains the most common route of infection in children according to CDC reports. In Georgia, the mother to child HIV is higher than the national rate, according to the Enhanced Perinatal HIV Surveillance.
Early intervention in the form of routine HIV testing, anti-retroviral (ARV) drug therapy, caesarean delivery, education and support on avoidance of breast feedings are some of the crucial steps that may help prevent transmission.
In 2007, the CDC launched the One Test, Two Lives (OTTL) campaign, a nation-wide campaign which provided obstetric providers with resources to promote universal voluntary prenatal testing for HIV for all pregnant women.
“According to a recent study, providers exposed to OTTL materials are more likely to include HIV testing as a regular screening test with pregnant patients,” McClellan said, who worked on developing content for the campaign with JBS International.
The CDC recommends an “opt-out” approach in which pregnant women are informed about the inclusion of the HIV test along with other standard prenatal tests and has the opportunity to decline the test. The opt-out approach has helped increase testing rates among pregnant women, said McClellan.
Although there are several interventions available in the market, there are still barriers preventing women from getting tested for HIV infections. One of the primary issues is the stigma associated with HIV testing. McClellan recommends that healthcare providers normalize the conversation about HIV testing.
“Make the talk about HIV testing a routine practice by incorporating it within the standard group of tests,” said McClellan. “Be transparent and provide all the necessary prevention and treatment information to the patient.”
Newer tools have been introduced by the CDC in order to make HIV testing more accessible and more conceivable for both OB/GYNs and pregnant women.
The Due Date Calculator, for example, predicts the estimated date of delivery and more importantly this tool highlights the ideal time to test a pregnant woman for HIV and provides reminders that it is never too late to test for HIV.
Other materials like fact sheets and posters that highlight the benefits of prenatal testing and explain the HIV test results to the patients and clinicians have also been made available by the CDC. Interventions like these and more will potentially help reduce the burden of perinatal HIV transmission and ensure a healthy future for newborn babies.
