Joint review of HIV, TB and PMTCT programmes in SA

Released in Johannesburg in early April, this is the first such review of its kind in a high-burden African country, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Health-e, 14 April 2014

The 104-page review of South Africa's prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services, as well as its HIV and TB programmes, was completed over four months. As part of the review, about 160 international and local experts visited almost half of the country's health districts to evaluate the HIV and TB programmes.
Led by the World Health Organization, the evaluation resulted in 12 main recommendations, including:

• regular TB screening as part of maternal and child health and community-based health programmes;
• routine TB screen for health workers;
• quality assurance programmes for HIV testing at all levels;
• improved staffing levels at the primary healthcare level;
• optimal use of - and correcting coding of results stemming from - GeneXpert machines;
• the creation of a pregnancy database.

Download the report: Joint review of HIV, TB and PMTCT programmes in South Africa