SAfAIDS in partnership with Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), Organization for Public Health Interventions and Development (OPHID) and J.F. Kapnek Trust is working with the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) in implementing PMTCT programmes within Zimbabwe. HIV can be transmitted from an HIV-positive mother to her child during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding this is called mother-to-child transmission. All pregnant women should go for Antenatal Care (ANC) services as soon as they find out they are pregnant. Early detection of HIV in a pregnant woman increases the chances of the unborn baby to be born without HIV if the woman is immediately put on treatment. The risk of
mother-to-child transmission of HIV can be reduced to less than 5 percent through a combination of prevention measures (PMTCT), including antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the expectant mother and her new-born child, hygienic delivery conditions and safe infant feeding. The facts:
• Early infant diagnosis of HIV allows timely ART initiation for the HIV infected infants
• Parents / Care givers should have HIV exposed infants tested for HIV at 6 weeks of age or at first contact thereafter
• Without intervention, the likelihood of transmission ranges from 25%-40%.
• Fear of rejection, stigmatisation, violence or abuse may prevent women from utilising HIV voluntary counselling and testing services, disclosing their HIV status
