title: The Uptake of Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission Programs in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  No systematic review of prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) in China has been performed. We aimed to estimate the uptake of PMTCT programs services in China.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Wanfang (Chinese) to identify research studies. Only descriptive epidemiological studies were eligible for this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 57 eligible cross-section studies were finally included. We estimated that the mean HIV-positive rate of exposed infants was 4.4% (95% CI = 3.2-5.5), and more than 33% of exposed infants had not undergone HIV diagnostic testing. The percentage of initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) in HIV-positive women was 71.0% (95% CI = 66.3-75.8), and that for initiating antiretroviral prophylaxis (ARP) in exposed infants was 78.3% (95% CI = 74.9-81.8); also, 31.3% (95% CI = 15.5-47.0) of women with HIV and < 1% of exposed infants received the combination of three antiretroviral drugs. There were bigger gap of uptake of PMTCT programs between income levels, and cities with a low income level had a higher percentage of initiating ART in HIV-positive women (80%) and ARP in exposed infants (85%) compared to cities with high-middle income (57% and 65%, respectively) (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This paper highlights the need to further scale up PMTCT services in China, especially in regions with the lowest coverage, so that more women can access and utilize them. However, some estimated outcome should be interpreted with caution due to the high level of heterogeneity and the small number of studies.
authors: Anhui Provincial Family Planning Institute of Science and Technology, Hefei 230031, Anhui Province, China.
authors: Zhaohui
authors: Z
authors: Huang
authors: Huzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Meihua
authors: M
authors: Jin
authors: Health management teaching and research section, the first affiliated hospital of Bengbu medical college, Bengbu, Anhui 233000, P.R. China.
authors: Huan
authors: H
authors: Zhou
authors: Huzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Zhengquan
authors: Z
authors: Dong
authors: Huzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Sichao
authors: S
authors: Zhang
authors: Huzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Jiankang
authors: J
authors: Han
authors: Anhui Provincial Family Planning Institute of Science and Technology, Hefei 230031, Anhui Province, China.
authors: Keqin
authors: K
authors: Fu
authors: Anhui Provincial Family Planning Institute of Science and Technology, Hefei 230031, Anhui Province, China.
authors: Jianli
authors: J
authors: Wu
authors: Anhui Provincial Family Planning Institute of Science and Technology, Hefei 230031, Anhui Province, China.
authors: Shudong
authors: S
authors: Wu
authors: Anhui Provincial Family Planning Institute of Science and Technology, Hefei 230031, Anhui Province, China.
authors: Huarong
authors: H
authors: Du
authors: Huzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Zhongrong
authors: Z
authors: Yang
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009035:Mothers; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*