Voluntary, named testing for HIV in a community based antenatal clinic: a pilot study

Abstract

Anonymous testing for HIV infection among pregnant women has shown that the prevalence of the infection among women attending community antenatal clinics and hospital based antenatal clinics at St Thomas's Hospital rose from 0.05% to 0.44% between 1988 and 19901 and that in London it has risen steadily from 0.18% in 1990 to 0.26% in 1993 (range 0-0.5%).2 3 Such studies have also shown the association of HIV infection in pregnancy with such recognised risk factors as African ethnicity and injected drug use.4 5 Relatively few pregnant women, however, are tested on a named basis, and throughout London only 12% of those found to be positive by anonymised testing were identified by named testing in antenatal clinics.3 6 The Department of Health considers this lack of named testing and identification to be a matter of “considerable public concern.”3