The Positive Infant Audit, a study being carried out by the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), focuses on identifying programmatic gaps in the Prevention of Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission (PMTCT) programme in Zambia.
The abstract, titled “Uptake of Postnatal Prophylaxis (PNP) among Infants Diagnosed with HIV in Zambia,” was recently presented by Chipo Chitambi at the 16th Annual National HIV/TB/STI/Viral Hepatitis Conference .
The analysis’ initial findings revealed that 25% of infants diagnosed with HIV did not receive critical Postnatal Prophylaxis. This gap in the provision of PNP is concerning, as timely administration of this treatment is crucial to preventing the transmission of HIV and improving the health outcomes of these infants.
The abstract recommends that counselling and sensitisation efforts targeted at HIV-positive mothers need to be enhanced, emphasising the critical importance of PNP for their infants’ health.
The study further advocates for increased training and sensitisation of healthcare workers, highlighting the need for consistent and thorough prescription of PNP.