Loss to follow up of pregnant women with HIV and infant HIV outcomes in the prevention of maternal to child transmission of HIV programme in two high-burden provinces in Papua New Guinea: a retrospective clinical audit

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Despite early adoption of the WHO guidelines to deliver lifelong antiretroviral (ARV) regimen to pregnant women on HIV diagnosis, the HIV prevention of mother to child transmission programme in Papua New Guinea remains suboptimal. An unacceptable number of babies are infected with HIV and mothers not retained in treatment. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of this programme and to investigate the factors associated with programme performance outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical records of HIV-positive pregnant women at two hospitals providing prevention of mother to child transmission services. All women enrolled in the prevention ..