HIV pregnancy cohort: evaluating continuity of care among women living with HIV

Women who initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART) during pregnancy in South Africa are at high risk of dropping out of care – particularly after delivery – but efforts to evaluate continuity of HIV care among pregnant and postpartum women have been hampered by lack of a national longitudinal HIV care database. Through this five-year award, we propose to use routinely-collected laboratory data to develop a national cohort of pregnant women living with HIV in South Africa that is uniquely robust to patient transfer. This novel cohort of pregnant women will be a powerful tool available to policymakers, clinicians and researchers for improving our understanding of engagement in care among pregnant women in South Africa and assessing the performance of the South African national ART program in caring for pregnant women living with HIV.