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In June 2008, MSF held an Experts Roundtable in Geneva to discuss the current limitations of Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes in the developing world and explore ways of improving the current WHO recommendations and in turn outcomes.
Current WHO guidelines to Prevent Mother To Child Transmission are not working in the developing world. The number of newly infected children globally in 2007 was estimated to be nearly 420,000, with approximately 90% of these children living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile in northern countries the number of new pediatric infections has dramatically declined, with less than 250 infants infected each year in the US.
The 2006 WHO guidelines are complicated, dependent on the immunogical status of the mother and difficult to roll out on a large scale. Today convincing evidence is available to support triple antiretroviral therapy for all mothers from week 28 of pregnancy, irrelevant of their clinical, immunological or virological status.
However many unanswered questions remain regarding choice of therapy, breast feeding and implementation. By bringing together experts to discuss some of these key questions, we aimed to develop a consensus on outstanding scientific questions and to define next steps to accelerate the implementation of an improved protocol, including the needed changes to the WHO guidelines.
Click here for background document 
MSF Clinical Officer Olesi Ellemani Pasulani's reflections on AIDS treatment in Malawi
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