Gaps Still Exist in Access to Care Among Partners of Pregnant Women With HIV
There is still room for improvement in the rate of HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) usage, and HIV treatment service enrollment among the partners of pregnant women with HIV, according to a new study.
To learn more about the HIV status of pregnant women’s partners and their ability to conceive more safely, the researchers administered surveys to 60 pregnant women with HIV about the partner of their current pregnancy. The participants had been seen for prenatal care in a large public teaching hospital and completed their survey between August 2017 and February 2018.
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Results of the study, which was authored by JoNell Potter, MS, and colleagues, were presented at the American Public Health Association’s 2018 Annual Meeting & Expo on Sunday, November 11.
About 25% of the participants reported that their partner had HIV. Of those 15 participants’ partners, 12 had insurance, were in HIV care, and were being treated for HIV, whereas 3 were uninsured and not in care or on treatment.
Further, 48% of the participants said their partners tested negative for HIV. Among those 29 partners, 2 were on PrEP, 27 were not on PrEP, 20 were uninsured, and 23 were not accessing health care.
Of the 60 participants, 16 (27%) reported that their partners had not been tested for HIV.
“These findings highlight the need for additional partner services that can assist with disclosure, HIV testing, referral to PrEP or HIV treatment services, and access to health insurance,” the researchers concluded.
—Colleen Murphy
Reference:
Potter J, Doblecki-Lewis S, Diaz-Mendez N, et al. Test and treat opportunities among partners of pregnant women living with HIV. Paper presented at: APHA’s 2018 Annual Meeting & Expo; November 10-14, 2018; San Diego, CA. https://apha.confex.com/apha/2018/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/415187. Accessed November 16, 2018.