Introduction Despite the widespread availability of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programs many women in sub-Saharan Africa do not participate in PMTCT. may be “necessary but not sufficient” to increase PMTCT uptake. Increasing HIV knowledge of both partners and motivating in the PMTCT process through psychoeducational interventions may be a strategy to increase the uptake of PMTCT in South Africa. of participation in care and the type of support these males provide for their pregnant partners must also become addressed.19 The HCT for pregnant women has typically been on an individual and gender-specific basis in PMTCT programs. However a couple’s approach to HCT and antenatal care may facilitate communication about HIV serostatus therefore reducing one of the major barriers to acceptance of ARV prophylaxis by mothers for themselves and their newborns as well as motivating adoption of preventive behaviors within BMS-708163 couples and reducing HIV transmission during and following pregnancy.20 21 Limited knowledge of the PMTCT process may also be a contributing element to lack of male involvement22 and contribute to the overall understanding of the male partner’s minimal part in the antenatal care/ PMTCT process. While male involvement has been progressively urged8 23 and male participation has met with some success 16 26 no randomized medical trials of the influence of male partners as important Rabbit polyclonal to SGK.This gene encodes a serine/threonine protein kinase that is highly similar to the rat serum-and glucocorticoid-induced protein kinase (SGK).. contributors to PMTCT uptake have been conducted. In addition while male BMS-708163 involvement may be desired sustaining male participation offers BMS-708163 verified hard.1 18 27 Both HCT and prevention strategies for couples could also strengthen HIV prevention attempts in Southern Africa 28 where the majority of HIV infections happen in stable human relationships. Like a precursor to a large-scale medical trial this pilot study was designed to test whether participation in a combination of 2 evidence-based interventions a couples risk reduction treatment and a medication adherence BMS-708163 treatment would significantly improve uptake of the PMTCT protocol by women. The study wanted to determine whether male participation in the treatment would significantly effect PMTCT uptake compared to male attendance at antenatal appointments only utilizing the existing general public health system linking antenatal care HCT and PMTCT solutions as the standard of care. Method This study was funded like a product to a center grant by a PEPFAR/NIAID collaboration for advancing implementation technology in PMTCT focusing on existing PEPFAR sites. University or college of Miami Miller School of Medicine Institutional Review Table Human Sciences Study Council Study Ethics Committee and the Mpumalanga Provincial Division of Health approvals were acquired prior to the onset of the study. All methods followed were in accordance with the ethical requirements of the evaluate committees described previously and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 as revised in 2000. This BMS-708163 study protocol is definitely authorized at clinicaltrials.gov quantity NCT01448512. All participants offered educated consent prior to enrollment and the initiation of study-related methods. Participants and Establishing Pregnant women who had completed HCT and were 24 to 30 weeks’ pregnant and ≥18 years of age were recruited and if interested were asked to invite their male partner to enroll like a couple (n = 239 couples). Couples then returned to provide educated consent and baseline assessments. Despite the drive to encourage women to book earlier in care to take advantage of PMTCT care women were enrolled late in pregnancy as most women in the region did not present for care until late gestational age. Participants were recruited from 12 antenatal clinics (ANCs) in Gert Sibande and Nkangala districts of Mpumalanga Province South Africa. Antenatal HIV prevalence rates ranged from 15.4% to 38.2%. Couple status was verified by screening to ensure enrollment of authentic primary sexual partners. South African 2009 PMTCT guidelines did not require women to receive their HIV test results and male partners were not required to undergo HCT though those who are tested are strongly encouraged to get their outcomes and involve their male companions. Those assessment HIV seropositive during antenatal treatment (n = 82) had been referred for Compact disc4 and liver organ function evaluation; those.