Community-based Evaluation of a Pilot PMTCT Project in Kafue District

CIDRZ 1236 - Community-based Evaluation of a Pilot PMTCT Project in Kafue District: Impact of HAART to Prevent Pediatric AIDS in Rural Zambia.

In this study, the investigators will assess the population effectiveness of using routine HAART as a PMTCT strategy, through a community-based survey. The survey will be done in the catchment areas of four health clinics in rural Zambia both before and after giving routine ART in the clinics, so as to estimate population HIV-free survival among infants born in each target community.

The investigators hypothesize that incorporation of routine ART into PMTCT will increase the HIV-free survival of exposed infants to 75%.

The primary objective is to determine the incremental benefit of a routine ART strategy for PMTCT on a population basis, when compared to short-course Zidovudine and single-dose Nevirapine (the current PMTCT standard of care).

We will take advantage of planned implementation of a pilot project for routine ART across four primary care centres in rural Zambia (Kafue District). Using a community-based survey modeled after the Demographic and Health Survey, we will measure HIV-free survival among children under two years of age in the catchment areas surrounding these pilot sites, both before and after implementation of services. We will use before-after comparisons in each of these four communities to better understand the incremental benefit of providing these services.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Household where a child has been born in the past two years.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Household where there no child has been born in the past two years.