Revista de SIDA e investigación clínica

Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission (PMTCT) in the Republic of Congo: Challenges to Implementation

Abstract

Laure Stella Ghoma Linguissi, Cyrille Bisseye, Pierre Poulain, Francine Ntoumi and Jacques Simpore

Introduction: The HIV infection rate has fallen sharply among pregnant women in the Republic of Congo (ROC), declining from 4.2% in 2003 to 2.5% in 2013. However, the rate of HIV vertical transmission observed in Congo is about 34% and the mortality rate of children born to HIV-positive mothers is high. Since the implementation of the program for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission (PMTCT) in 2002, all prevention activities are based on the collaboration with Ambulatory Treatment Centers (CTA) and the Kento-Mwana project. The Ministry of Health in the ROC is in the process of establishing a new PMTCT strategy to reach a country-wide coverage.

Objective: This review aims at examining the implementation of PMTCT in the ROC.

Methodology: We searched for papers in the PubMed database with keywords related to Congo, HIV, PMTCT and pregnancy. Results were then manually curated. The subset of PubMed papers was enriched with reports from WHO, UNAIDS, UNICEF and from Congolese health institutions (written in English or in French).

Finding: Maternal HIV infection remains a public health concern, not only for pregnant women but also for children whose vertical transmission could be canceled if adapted therapeutic strategies are applied. The challenges are still many to come to an elimination of pediatric HIV, including the refusal of HIV testing by pregnant women and the difficulty in obtaining HIV PCR tests. It is therefore imperative for the Ministry of Health in the ROC to establish a national PMTCT strategy to cover most of the health facilities in the country