Gender and PMTCT/EMTCT Participation in Malawi and Uganda under Option B+
The USAID-funded MEASURE Evaluation project is hosting a webinar and live Q&A session on Tuesday, December 13, from 9:00-10:00am EST to present findings from a study on Gender and Participation in Prevention or Elimination of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission Programs in Malawi and Uganda under Option B+.
Option B+, an approach that initiates all pregnant or breastfeeding women on lifelong antiretroviral therapy regardless of their disease stage, has been adopted by at least 21 countries and has increased the number of HIV-positive women on treatment in sub-Saharan Africa. However, women are lost to follow-up throughout the prevention (or elimination) of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT/EMTCT) testing and treatment cascade. Efforts to improve retention in care should be based on evidence about the facilitators and barriers to participation. We studied how gender influences women’s participation in PMTCT/EMTCT programs in Malawi and Uganda through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with women in the program, women lost to follow-up, government health workers, stakeholders from organizations supporting PMTCT/EMTCT and men in the community. The study was conducted by MEASURE Evaluation in collaboration with the Centre for Social Research, Chancellor College, University of Malawi and the Centre for Child Health and Development, Makerere University, Uganda.
Presented by Valerie Flax and Jennifer Yourkavitch, the webinar describes the findings and recommendations from the study. Valerie Flax is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and serves as the team lead for MEASURE Evaluation’s PMTCT activities. Jennifer Yourkavitch is an expert consultant with ICF whose research and work focuses on understanding and addressing social determinants of health, particularly those related to breastfeeding practices, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, gender, equity and sustainability.
