Ongoing barriers to HIV testing during pregnancy: a need for media campaigns addressing low knowledge about perinatal HIV transmission among women in the United States.

摘要

Despite dramatic reduction's in perinatal transmission of HIV in the United States, barriers to prevention still exist and perinatal HIV infections continue. The work of Podhurst and colleagues recently presented in this journal highlights ongoing barriers to the elimination of perinatal HIV; they focus on patients' opinions and knowledge about HIV testing during pregnancy. Disconcerting is that the women surveyed were recruited from clinics with high prevalences of HIV and specifically funded to provide specialized HIV services, testing, and education initiatives. One of three women surveyed felt there was not enough information about HIV and pregnancy; 20% of women did not know that HIV could be transmitted to their babies during pregnancy and 35% were unaware that transmission could occur during delivery. Nearly 40% of women did not realize there were medications available to prevent perinatal transmission, perhaps indicating another barrier to obtaining HIV testing. The good news is that women with more knowledge about perinatal HIV transmission reported acceptance of HIV testing during pregnancy. These findings highlight the need to develop and test campaigns that address knowledge barriers to HIV testing. While several strategies could address low HIV knowledge, media campaigns are a cost-effective and underutilized intervention.