Antenatal detection of HIV: national surveillance and unlinked anonymous survey

In 1999 national targets were adopted for the universal offer and recommendation of a test for HIV during antenatal care throughout England.1 This built on earlier initiatives aimed at enhancing maternal diagnosis of HIV infection and reducing perinatal transmission of HIV with appropriate interventions.2 Substantial improvement in the proportion of maternal HIV infections diagnosed has been reported for much of London, and improvement has been observed more recently for the rest of England.3 We used published estimates of rates of vertical transmission of HIV in the United Kingdom to assess whether the target of an 80% reduction in the proportion of vertically infected infants by December 2002 is likely to be achieved.1 We used results from the unlinked anonymous dried blood spot survey to estimate the number of births in England to women infected with HIV.3 Combining these data with confidential reports of pregnancies in …