Prevention of Mother-to-Child Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission in Resource-Limited Countries

Abstract

The first pediatric AIDS cases were reported in 1982. A decade later, the World Health Organization estimated there were more than 500,000 pediatric AIDS cases resulting from mother-to-child transmission, 90% of which were in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the rate of new infections globally has been cut in half since the peak of the pandemic, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a public health threat, and rates of new infections continue to increase in some regions. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV has now been virtually eliminated in many parts of the world but remains an issue in resource-limited countries.

Keywords: Antiretroviral therapy (ART); Guidelines; HIV; Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT); Resource-limited.