Prevention of mother-to-child transmission in HIV audit in Xhosa clinic, Mahalapye, Botswana : original research

Background : The Mahalapye district health management team (DHMT) conducts regular audits to evaluate the standard of services delivered to patients, one of which is the prevention of mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT) programme. Xhosa clinic is one of the facilities in Mahalapye which provides a PMTCT programme. Aim : This audit aimed to identify gaps between the current PMTCT clinical practice in Xhosa clinic and the Botswana PMTCT national guidelines. Setting : This audit took place in Xhosa clinic in the urban village of Mahalapye, in the Central District of Botswana. Methods : This was a retrospective audit using PMTCT Xhosa clinic records of pregnant mothers and HIV-exposed babies seen from January 2013 to June 2013. Results : One hundred and thirty-three pregnant women registered for antenatal care. Twenty-five (19%) knew their HIV-positive status as they had been tested before their pregnancy or had tested HIV positive at their first antenatal clinic visit. More than two-thirds of the 115 pregnant women (69%) were seen at a gestational age of between 14 and 28 weeks. About two-thirds of the pregnant women (67%) took antiretroviral drugs. Of the 44 HIV-exposed infants, 39 (89%) were HIV DNA PCR negative at 6 weeks. Thirty-two (73%) children were given cotrimoxazole prophylaxis between 6 and 8 weeks. Conclusion : The PMTCT programme service delivery was still suboptimal and could potentially increase the mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Daily monitoring mechanism to track those eligible could help to close the gap. Le contrôle de prévention de la transmission du VIH (PTME) de la mère à l'enfant à la clinique Xhosa de Mahalapye au Botswana Contexte : L'équipe de gestion sanitaire du district de Mahalapye (DHMT) procède à des contrôles réguliers pour évaluer le niveau des services donnés aux patients, tels que le programme de prévention de la transmission du VIH de la mère à l'enfant (PTME). La clinique Xhosa est l'un des établissements à Mahalapye qui offre un programme PTME. Objectif : Cette évaluation avait pour but d'identifier l'écart entre les pratiques cliniques PTME actuelles à la clinique Xhosa et les directives nationales du PTME du Botswana. Lieu : Cette évaluation a eu lieu à la clinique Xhosa dans le village de Mahalapye, dans le District central du Botswana. Méthodes : Il s'agissait d'une rétrospective basées sur les rapports du PTME de la clinique Xhosa des mères enceintes et des bébés exposés au virus VIH examinés de janvier à jui