Organization of Testing of Sexual Partners of Pregnant Women and Evaluation of Its Efficiency in Preventing Perinatal HIV Transmission in the Sverdlovsk Region

Introduction: One of the components of eliminating perinatal HIV transmission is testing of sexual partners of pregnant women for timely diagnosis of the disease in discordant couples.

Objective: To analyze the organization of HIV testing for sexual partners of pregnant women and to evaluate the efficiency of prevention of HIV infection in discordant couples and perinatal HIV transmission in the Sverdlovsk Region.

Materials and Methods: We conducted a comprehensive study using retrospective and prospective methods of collecting statistics on the Sverdlovsk Region for the years 2014 to 2024. Our sources of information included electronic health records, statistical reports from regional health facilities, regulatory documents issued by the Ministry of Health of the Sverdlovsk Region, and HIV newsletters from the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing.

Results: Algorithms for organizing HIV testing of sexual partners of pregnant women and follow-up of discordant couples are implemented in the Sverdlovsk Region in compliance with regional regulatory documents. Among the sexual partners of pregnant women, the proportion of those tested increased to 86.3 %, HIV incidence halved, follow-up and antiretroviral therapy coverage rose to 93.1 % and 97.0 %, respectively, and the share of those with undetectable viral load grew to 79.0 %.

Conclusion: Legal regulation and partner HIV testing in the Sverdlovsk Region ensure interdepartmental and interdisciplinary cooperation between health facilities at the regional level, promote better detection and follow-up of discordant couples, and contribute to reducing perinatal HIV transmission rates.

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