Transcript Slide 1

Effectiveness of the PMTCT program in
Swaziland
Nomsa Mulima
17th July 2011
Country background
 Country Population
 1,018,449
 (M=481428; F=537021)
 Pop 0-4 yrs=127859 (13%)
 Pop 15-49 yrs= 510738 (50%)
 HIV Prevalence (Extreme) Generalized epidemic in all 4 regions
 Pregnant women (41.1%)
 General population (19%)
 15-49 age group (26%)
 MMR =589
 IMR= 78 in 1997 to 107 in 2007
 Under 5 MR= 106 in 1997 to 167 in 2007
PMTCT in Swaziland- country Information
 PMTCT program implementation & expansion
 PMTCT Implementation since 2003
 4 Sites initially; increase to 73 by 2005; 137 by 2008 and 150 (88%) by 2010
 Expansion in sites providing treatment including
ART
 ART implementation since 2003

6 sites initially; 17 in 2005; 70 by 2008 and 116 (43%) by 2010
 EID
 Started in late 2007
 Increase from 58 sites in 2008; 107 end of 2009 &127/157 (81%) of CW
clinics by 2010
 DBS done centrally- 1 DNA-PCR machine
 Some tests done in South Africa due to insufficient capacity
PMTCT program Cascade
Number of infants receiving EID
4902 (42%)
Receiving ARVs for PMTCT
9273
Estimated HIV infected women
delivered/Estimated HIV exposed infants
Total HIV Infected
Total tested and received results
Total tested for HIV
Total ANC
10,631 in total tested, though most after 8 wks
11528
13563
28348
29046
35000
PMTCT Country background Cont.......
EID Coverage:
•Policy= test all exposed infants
>6wks (for HIV+ initiate ART
immediately)
•Estimated exposed infants=11,528
•Tested within 2 mnths= 4,902(42%)
• still most infants test after 2 mnths.
•Improvement compared to previous
years (as graph shows)
EID Coverage(HIV prevalence vs time DBS done)
•Decline in % infants testing
HIV+ (from estimated 21%+- 14%)
• Within <8wks (4%)
•Notable difference for those
testing>8wks (unknown
causes)
•
Transmission through breast
milk/that DBS confirms test for
those testing HIV + through
Antibody testing????
Existing data on PMTCT Impact _cont.......
Currently available data
 PMTCT program data-improvement in access to ARVs & EID
uptake
Gaps
1. Still Impact of PMTCT is unknown (country relies on
modelling _ not country specific_ generalized to regional
assumptions
 No linkages btwn ANC & CWF data (cannot link and measure
transmission rates)
Current PMTCT impact evaluation: Methods
 Evaluation of the effectiveness of the national PMTCT programme at 6 –
8 weeks post-partum in Swaziland
 Protocol submitted and approved nationally
 Awaiting approval from IRB/CDC
 Method chosen and why:
 Immunization clinics survey (+83% EPI-DPT1 coverage)
 Mother-infant-pairs to be recruited from a random sample of about 55 child welfare
clinics providing EID,
 All mother-infant pairs attending selected facilities during the 4-month data
collection period will be offered an opportunity to participate in the evaluation.
 Consenting mothers will be interviewed using a structured questionnaire to obtain
demographics, uptake of ANC and PMTCT interventions-Testing & ARVs.
Method chosen and why cont.....
 Why the study & method selection?
 Country target: reduction of MTCT to 5% by 2014 (country specific
Baseline not available)
 Program data not of good quality
 CWF register already in cohorts, but issues of LTF (infants <6wks in 1st visit not coming back)
 No link of CWF data to mom’s regimen/ PMTCT intervention
 Current STD: Infants tested if mother’s HIV+ status known> all infants selected will be
tested regardless of mom’s HIV status
 Data triangulation done on infant mortality, declines noted but not clear of
attributing factors
Other proposed studies
 Follow-up of breastfeeding infants
 To be part of the above mentioned study –Evaluation of the effectiveness of
PMTCT program
 Follow-up selected infants whose DNA is negative at 6-8wks until cessation of
breast milk to determine late HIV transmission (breast milk)
 Still to develop protocol
 NVP Adherence for infants- study to assess routine collection of
adherence data to assess uptake of new PMTCT guidelines and use
as input to adjust model ( WHO collaboration)
 DHS 2012 to consider infant/child testing
 Triangulation of PMTCT programme scale-up and infant
mortality
 Continuous triangulation to determine impact of PMTCT