HIV Testing During Pregnancy: A Literature and Policy Review

This background paper, prepared for the Open Society Public Health Program, reviews policies for conducting HIV tests for pregnant women in 19 countries, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. In particular, the paper examines the extent to which HIV testing approaches consider the safety and human rights issues for women who are pregnant.

The paper also synthesizes the public health, ethics, law and human rights literature on HIV testing during pregnancy. The authors conducted a systematic review of over 600 published papers and unpublished reports to understand and describe the ethical, legal, and policy debate over HIV testing of pregnant women as well as the research informing that debate.