Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS Prevention Subcommittee
Resolution To Save the Babies
Prevention/Management of Vertical Transmission
Whereas routine HIV screening of pregnant women is the first line of defense to prevent mother to child HIV transmission;
Whereas the second line of defense is that any woman presenting for delivery whose HIV status is unknown should be offered HIV screening (“opt out”) and intrapartum antiretroviral prophylaxis if she is found to be HIV positive;
Whereas the number of babies born with HIV in the U.S. has been reduced substantially as a result of HIV screening of pregnant women;
Whereas perinatal HIV transmission continues to occur among women who “opt out” from HIV screening;
Whereas the CDC is planning to recommend “opt out” testing for newborns whose mothers’ HIV status is unknown (in the CDC’s “Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents and Pregnant Women in Health Care Settings”);
Whereas we can not rest on our successes until there are no babies born in the U.S. who are HIV infected;
Be it resolved that PACHA recommends to the President and the Secretary of HHS that all babies born in the United States whose mothers’ HIV status is unknown be mandated to be tested immediately after birth for HIV and linked to appropriate care. This approach is currently successful public health policy in Connecticut and New York.
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