HIV infection, pregnant women, and newborns. A policy proposal for information and testing. Working Group on HIV Testing of Pregnant Women and Newborns
Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205.
As the public health impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
in women and children has increased, so has interest in screening pregnant
women and newborns for evidence of HIV infection. However, screening of
pregnant women and newborns raises profound moral, legal, and policy
issues. In this article, we present and defend a detailed 10-point program
of policy recommendations for both pregnant women and newborns. We advocate
informing all pregnant women and new mothers about the HIV epidemic and the
availability of testing.
