Open AccessFamily planning and PMTCT services: Examining interrelationships, strengthening linkages
Author(s) -
Naomi Rutenberg,
Carolyn Baek,
Chipepo Kankasa,
Ruth Nduati,
Dorothy MboriNgacha,
Margaret Siwale,
Scott Geibel,
Louis Apicella
Publication year - 2003
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.31899/hiv2003.1006
Subject(s) - unintended pregnancy , vulnerability (computing) , medicine , family planning , voluntary counseling and testing , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , pregnancy , family medicine , environmental health , nursing , health services , population , health facility , research methodology , computer security , biology , genetics , computer science
Preventing unintended pregnancy among HIV-positive women through family planning (FP) services is one of the four cornerstones of a comprehensive program for prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT). Reducing unintended pregnancies among HIV-positive women would yield a reduction in infections among infants and a reduction in the number of children potentially orphaned when parents die of AIDS-related illnesses. It also reduces HIV-positive women's vulnerability to morbidity and mortality related to pregnancy and lactation. In addition, family planning for both HIV-positive and -negative women safeguards their health by enabling them to space births. This brief focuses on findings from Horizons studies on the extent to which voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and PMTCT programs address family planning. In Kenya and Zambia, the Horizons Program collaborated with NARESA and the MTCT Working Group, respectively, and UNICEF to document the acceptability, operational barriers, costs, and impact of pilot PMTCT services.