National HIV Prevention Conference Atlanta, Georgia, USA — July 27 - 30, 2003

Natl HIV Prev Conf 2003 July 27-30:abstract no. M1-D1602
Birkhead GS, Odegaard D, Phillips-Harding K, Inglis SR
NYS Department of Health, AIDS Institute, Albany, NY

ISSUE: The New York State (NYS) Department of Health's Maternal-Pediatric HIV Prevention and Care Program (MPHPCP) is designed to reduce perinatal HIV transmission to the lowest possible level. The MPHPCP promotes: 1) prenatal HIV counseling and testing, 2) access to health care for HIV + pregnant women, and 3) the establishment of linkages to care for all HIV-exposed infants born in NYS. This program can be adapted to address other public health issues, as well as perinatal HIV transmission prevention efforts, by city, county and state departments of health.

SETTING: The MPHPCP provides technical assistance, educational outreach, and monitoring and reporting activities for prenatal care clinics, health care providers and birth facilities throughout NYS.

PROJECT: Because of the efficacy of ARV therapy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and the known benefit of prenatal HIV counseling and testing, the MPHPCP has evolved over time. Working with professional organizations and health care providers, the NYS Department of Health (DOH) has issued regulations that require hospitals, clinics and HMO providers to provide HIV counseling with a clinical recommendation to test, to all prenatal care patients. NYS regulations also include universal newborn HIV testing and the requirement that expedited HIV testing in the hospital delivery setting be provided in cases where an HIV test result from prenatal care is not available. Through the MPHPCP, the DOH monitors compliance indicators and provides routine feedback to facilities, which allows them to use internal quality improvement measures to improve or sustain performance.

RESULTS: By providing technical assistance and educational outreach services to providers and hospitals, and through the creation of partnerships with health care providers and their professional organizations, NYS has seen dramatic results in its efforts to reduce perinatal HIV transmission. There has been a significant increase in the number of women who accept HIV testing in the prenatal period (94% statewide in 2002), and a significant decrease in perinatal HIV transmission rates - from 10.9% in 1997 to 3.7% in 2000.

LESSONS LEARNED: New York's experience with perinatal HIV transmission prevention efforts demonstrates the effectiveness of coalition building and outreach efforts to public and private health care providers. This approach could yield similar results when applied to HIV prevention programs and other public health initiatives throughout the country.

030727
M1-D1602

Copyright notice: The National HIV Prevention Conference is collaborative effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a U.S. Government agency and other governmental and non-government organizations. All abstracts published in by the conference organizers are in the public domain and can be used without permission. Proper citation, however, is required.