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PMTCT decentralization does not assure optimal service delivery : revelations from successful individual-level tracking of HIV-infected mothers and their infants. Andrew Edmonds Deidre Thompson Vitus Okitolonda Lydia Feinstein Bienvenu Kawende Frieda Behets for the PMTE team.
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PMTCT decentralization does not assure optimal service delivery: revelations from successful individual-level tracking of HIV-infected mothers and their infants Andrew Edmonds Deidre Thompson Vitus Okitolonda Lydia Feinstein BienvenuKawende Frieda Behets for the PMTE team
Background • Essential services for the prevention mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) are being increasingly decentralized to antenatal care (ANC) sites • However, the consequences of shifting services from dedicated HIV care and treatment (C&T) clinics remain incompletely explored • Rwanda: differences between stand-alone and full package sites (Tsagueet al. BMC Public Health 2010, 10:753) • HIV-exposed infants are often not DNA PCR tested at ANC or immunization sites (Ciaranello et al. BMC Medicine 2011, 9:59)
Context • The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) has assisted with implementation of HIV prevention, care, and treatment the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 2003 • PMTCT activities • HIV testing ~63,000 women/year (49 sites) • Scaling up to ~100,000 women/year (105 sites) • HIV prevalence ~1.3%
Locations and characteristics of 44 maternities providing vertical HIV prevention services and 2 comprehensive care and treatment sites
PMTCT YaSika • In October 2010, an enhanced standard of care was introduced at the UNC-supported ANC sites • Personnel were retrained to implement co-located post-delivery care and the 2010 World Health Organization PMTCT guidelines including Option A • They were also provided with new individual-level tracking tools and supportive supervision • HIV-infected “mother-mentor” clinic volunteers • The ANC sites became decentralized in waves • Sites that had not yet been fully decentralized continued to refer all HIV-infected women to the care and treatment sites
Purpose • We compared service delivery at ANC and HIV C&T clinics in Kinshasa, DRC, a low HIV prevalence, resource-deprived setting
Mother Infant Register Tracking of individual-level data for the mother-infant pair across the PMTCT spectrum
No evident improvement over time in CD4 test provision • Decentralization did provide a new point of access • Several hundred women and infants received services at the level of the maternity
Conclusions • Detailed individual-level tracking of mothers and infants was feasible in Kinshasa • It revealed that PMTCT services were delivered less effectively at sites historically focused on ANC rather than HIV C&T • Logistical barriers pose a significant challenge but can be overcome • While decentralization increased access to services, its potential to further reduce vertical transmission cannot be fully realized without sustained training, supervisory support, and site-specific real-time data quality monitoring