Strengthening Community and Health Systems for Quality PMTCT: Applications in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Ethiopia

In addition to a lack of access to quality prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services at the clinic level, community-level factors such as stigma; adverse gender dynamics; low support for HIV testing, antenatal care, and skilled birth attendance; and poor linkages between communities and their facilities all pose challenges to improving PMTCT outcomes. Since 2002, Pathfinder has implemented PMTCT programming in countries across the globe, gaining insight into the barriers women face in access and adherence, and using these lessons to inform implementation of our global PMTCT strategy. This technical brief discusses implementation experience in four African countries, providing recommendations for future efforts to more holistically advance improved PMTCT outcomes in resource-limited settings.