Does the national program of prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) reach its target in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso?

Abstract

Background: In the context of universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support, each country has to ensure that 80% of women and children in need have access to PMTCT interventions. Objective: To assess the PMTCT program achievement in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. Methods: Between August and October 2008, a cross sectional study was carried out in the five health districts of the Centre Health Region. We reviewed weekly statistics from all health care centres (HCC) to compute the coverage of PMTCT program. In 38 HCC with functional PMTCT program, we extracted data of interest from HCC registers and made direct observations of PMTCT services. Results: The PMTCT program was implemented in 49% of HCC (target for the national program: 70%). Fifteen to 31% of these centers were often in shortage for PMTCT consumables. Patients' privacy was not observed in 67% of Voluntary Counselling & HIV Testing wards. Care providers were not qualified enough to deliver PMTCT services. Vitamin A supplementation was not implemented. None of the facilities offered the whole package of PMTCT program interventions. HCC providing HIV testing in labour or in postnatal ward were consistently lacking. Only 86% of antenatal care new attendants benefited from pre-test counselling; 2.4% of pretested women were HIV-positive and 39% of positive mothers received antiretroviral prophylaxis. Conclusion: Coverage and quality of PMTCT programme in the Centre Health Region in Burkina Faso are still limited. Particular support is needed for training, supervision and infrastructures upgrading.

Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV at the second immunization visit: a cross-sectional study, Burkina Faso

“…We found that 99.8% of women had attended at least one antenatal care visit, 95.2% of mothers had been tested for HIV during pregnancy (or breastfeeding up to the second immunization visit), and 99.1% of HIV-positive mothers were on ART. Improvements in PMTCT facilities and organization in Burkina Faso 16 and in pregnant women’s adherence to the PMTCT programme over the last decade 17 have contributed to these impressive results.…”

“…21 However, increasing the collection of dried blood samples in PMTCT settings is still needed. Long turnaround times can be attributed to the frequent shortages of reagents, as described some years ago in the central region of Burkina Faso, 16 and to the complex system for nucleic acid testing. The transfer of samples and results between the health and social promotion centres, referral health centres and central laboratory could be optimized.…”

An assessment of HIV control programme for evidence informed policymaking and practice in Burkina Faso: A systematic review

“…It is of interest to note from this review that all of 21 selected studies were published after the year (34). Moreover, there is a need for strong quality implementation of prevention of mother-to-child transmission programmes (16,18,19) and for this to contribute to WHO guidelines. One very interesting feature of all the studies reviewed is that they gave various information about the HIV control programme outcomes in localities and health facilities where the studies were undertaken.…”

Editorial

“…16 In a unique article, Simon Ndira and others report on their experience on tackling malaria by medical students and communities in Eastern Uganda, 17 while Eric Some et al report on PMTCT of HIV in Burkina Faso -that land of upright people. 18 Screening for vancomycin-resistant enterococci is possible but not cost effective so conclude Turkish researchers. 19 Non-communicable diseases refuse to go away even when our attention is consumed by infections.…”