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Rebecca Voelker

JAMA. 2000;283:3189.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In a significant policy shift, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has announced its support of routine, voluntary HIV testing of pregnant women in the United States.

"Our aim is to make HIV testing as commonplace as urinalysis during the first prenatal office visit," said Michael Greene, MD, chair of ACOG's committee on obstetric practice. Previous HIV screening policy focused on testing for women considered to be at high risk for infection. However, recent findings on the prevention of perinatal HIV transmission with use of zidovudine and advances in treatment with combination therapy prompted the change in policy.

Stanley Zinberg, MD, vice president of ACOG's practice activities division, noted that new pediatric AIDS cases have dropped by 43% in the United States since zidovudine was found to be effective in preventing vertical transmission of HIV. "The goal is to test all women before they give birth, . . . [Full Text of this Article]