How ready are our health systems to implement prevention of mother to child transmission Option B+?
In January 2015, the South African National Department of Health released new consolidated guidelines for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) PMTCT Option B+. Implementing these guidelines should make it possible to elimin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AOSIS
2015-10-01
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| Series: | Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/386 |
| _version_ | 1828278439968243712 |
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| author | Palesa Nkomo Natasha Davies Gayle Sherman Sanjana Bhardwaj Vundli Ramokolo Nobubelo K. Ngandu Nobuntu Noveve Trisha Ramraj Vuyolwethu Magasana Yages Singh Duduzile Nsibande Ameena E. Goga |
| author_facet | Palesa Nkomo Natasha Davies Gayle Sherman Sanjana Bhardwaj Vundli Ramokolo Nobubelo K. Ngandu Nobuntu Noveve Trisha Ramraj Vuyolwethu Magasana Yages Singh Duduzile Nsibande Ameena E. Goga |
| author_sort | Palesa Nkomo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In January 2015, the South African National Department of Health released new consolidated guidelines for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) PMTCT Option B+. Implementing these guidelines should make it possible to eliminate mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV and improve long-term maternal and infant outcomes. The present article summarises the key recommendations of the 2015 guidelines and highlights current gaps that hinder optimal implementation; these include late antenatal booking (as a result of poor staff attitudes towards ‘early bookers’ and foreigners, unsuitable clinic hours, lack of transport to facilities, quota systems being applied to antenatal clients and clinic staff shortages); poor compliance with rapid HIV testing protocols; weak referral systems with inadequate follow-up; inadequate numbers of laboratory staff to handle HIV-related monitoring procedures and return of results to the correct facility; and inadequate supply chain management, leading to interrupted supplies of antiretroviral drugs. Additionally, recommendations are proposed on how to address these gaps. There is a need to evaluate the implementation of the 2015 guidelines and proactively communicate with ground-level implementers to identify operational bottlenecks, test solutions to these bottlenecks, and develop realistic implementation plans. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T07:31:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77ec3bba350041138d3093ac6942756a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1608-9693 2078-6751 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T07:31:22Z |
| publishDate | 2015-10-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-77ec3bba350041138d3093ac6942756a2022-12-22T02:56:21ZengAOSISSouthern African Journal of HIV Medicine1608-96932078-67512015-10-01161e1e510.4102/sajhivmed.v16i1.386339How ready are our health systems to implement prevention of mother to child transmission Option B+?Palesa Nkomo0Natasha Davies1Gayle Sherman2Sanjana Bhardwaj3Vundli Ramokolo4Nobubelo K. Ngandu5Nobuntu Noveve6Trisha Ramraj7Vuyolwethu Magasana8Yages Singh9Duduzile Nsibande10Ameena E. Goga11Health Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilWits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, University of the WitwatersrandNational Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa; Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of the Witwatersrand, South AfricaThe United Nations Children’s Fund, PretoriaHealth Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilHealth Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilHealth Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilHealth Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilHealth Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilHealth Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilHealth Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilHealth Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, South Africa; Department of Paediatrics, University of Pretoria, South AfricaIn January 2015, the South African National Department of Health released new consolidated guidelines for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) PMTCT Option B+. Implementing these guidelines should make it possible to eliminate mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV and improve long-term maternal and infant outcomes. The present article summarises the key recommendations of the 2015 guidelines and highlights current gaps that hinder optimal implementation; these include late antenatal booking (as a result of poor staff attitudes towards ‘early bookers’ and foreigners, unsuitable clinic hours, lack of transport to facilities, quota systems being applied to antenatal clients and clinic staff shortages); poor compliance with rapid HIV testing protocols; weak referral systems with inadequate follow-up; inadequate numbers of laboratory staff to handle HIV-related monitoring procedures and return of results to the correct facility; and inadequate supply chain management, leading to interrupted supplies of antiretroviral drugs. Additionally, recommendations are proposed on how to address these gaps. There is a need to evaluate the implementation of the 2015 guidelines and proactively communicate with ground-level implementers to identify operational bottlenecks, test solutions to these bottlenecks, and develop realistic implementation plans.https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/386PMTCTHealth systemsPMTCT guidelinesantenatal bookinOption B+ |
| spellingShingle | Palesa Nkomo Natasha Davies Gayle Sherman Sanjana Bhardwaj Vundli Ramokolo Nobubelo K. Ngandu Nobuntu Noveve Trisha Ramraj Vuyolwethu Magasana Yages Singh Duduzile Nsibande Ameena E. Goga How ready are our health systems to implement prevention of mother to child transmission Option B+? Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine PMTCT Health systems PMTCT guidelines antenatal bookin Option B+ |
| title | How ready are our health systems to implement prevention of mother to child transmission Option B+? |
| title_full | How ready are our health systems to implement prevention of mother to child transmission Option B+? |
| title_fullStr | How ready are our health systems to implement prevention of mother to child transmission Option B+? |
| title_full_unstemmed | How ready are our health systems to implement prevention of mother to child transmission Option B+? |
| title_short | How ready are our health systems to implement prevention of mother to child transmission Option B+? |
| title_sort | how ready are our health systems to implement prevention of mother to child transmission option b |
| topic | PMTCT Health systems PMTCT guidelines antenatal bookin Option B+ |
| url | https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/386 |
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