Antenatal screening for HIV: time to embrace change.
In August 1999 the Government set a national objective of reducing the numbers of children acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection from their mothers by 80%. The key policy change towards achieving this objective was that HIV testing was to be recommended as a routine and integral part of antenatal care. The UK has fallen behind other Western industrialized countries in the uptake of antenatal testing and reduction in mother-to-child transmission. This article examines the background to these new recommendations, the substantial benefits of available interventions and the reasons why current testing policies have been failing.
Ottewill
M
M
Sexual Health and HIV Department, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton Health Care Trust.
D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D006291:Health Policy; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology