Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

In 2013, the WHO supported new protocols for prevention of vertical transmission of HIV, referred to as Option B+. There has been limited evidence to support its effectiveness in HIV endemic settings with programmatic constraints. The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which Option B+ was implemented in the Haitian context for infants and their mothers and, how its implementation affected vertical transmission. A chart review was performed with infants born to HIV+ mothers between 2011 and 2014 at three Zanmi Lasante clinical sites in rural Haiti. Overall, HIV- infants showed higher levels of implementation compared to HIV+ infants. Specifically, HIV- infants had higher rates of receiving more than two-thirds of the fully recommended Option B+ protocol compared to HIV+ infants. The results of this study suggests that the increasing implementation of Option B+ is supported in reducing the vertical transmission of HIV. These results have global implications in our country's efforts to reduce the burden of HIV/AIDS. As Option B+ becomes adopted as standard of care globally, more research must focus on HIV endemic countries where programmatic limitations continue to persist.