11 September 2017

Updated guidance on antiretroviral drugs for pregnant women living with HIV can help women make more informed choices about benefits and harms, say a panel of international experts in The BMJ today. The recommendations, which take a patient's perspective rather than a public health perspective, differ from current guidelines, and are meant to support shared decision making between pregnant women and their healthcare provider, say the authors. For these recommendations, an international panel - made up of women living with HIV, specialist doctors, and general practitioners - carried out a detailed analysis of the evidence to make recommendations. Evidence from these reviews led the panel to recommend older alternatives instead of the most widely used drug combinations to help reduce the risk of premature birth and neonatal death - which almost all women said they were extremely keen to avoid.

Read the full article online here.