Quality assurance of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Botswana

Background: The HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women is 37% in Botswana. According to UNICEF (2011), maternal and under-5 mortality rates in Botswana were 160 per 100000 live births and 26 per 1000 live births, respectively. Therefore, this study sought to identify the effects of ongoing clinic audits of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in Francistown, Botswana for the period 2008–2012. Methods: Existing data for all women attending antenatal and postnatal clinics were collected and collated manually from monthly from clinic PMTCT registers. Results: There were 19 720 new antenatal clinic visits between 2008 and 2012 with an HIV prevalence of 35% among the women. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV decreased from 3% in 2008 to 1% in 2012. The decrease was due, in part, to the introduction of triple antiretroviral prophylaxis/antiretroviral therapy (TAP/ARV) (PMTCT Option B) in 2011. Conclusions: Audit results over a 5-year period showed a steady improvement in the cascade ...