Introduction

This report highlights findings from an implementation evaluation of Option B+, a Universal test and treat Strategy for HIV infected pregnant and lactating women to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). This evaluation sought to understand Option B+ implementation in South Africa, three years after the policy was changed. We conducted a mixed-methods, multi-level programme evaluation to understand the views and experiences from policy-makers’, health care providers’ and users’ perspectives and to identify opportunities for programme strengthening.

Executive Summary

Executive Summary

The Global Fund invested in a South African combination HIV prevention intervention for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged 10 to 24 years from 2016 to 2019 in ten priority districts in South Africa. The concept of “combination implementation” has been defined as “the pragmatic, localized application of a package of evidence-based prevention interventions using optimized implementation and operational strategies to achieve high sustained uptake of good quality services [1].

The Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health (CPMH), together with the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), are pleased to announce the release of the full technical report of the Evaluation of the Health System Costs of Mental Health Services and Programmes in South Africa (2016/17 FY); and the accompanying open-access publication: Mental health system costs, resources and constraints in South Africa: a national survey.

This  report is a summary of the seminar on Prioritising Research and Evaluation for Digital Health in South Africa, held at SAMRC Health Systems Research Unit, on 17 July 2019. The event was co-hosted by SAMRC - Jembi Collaborating Centre for Digital Health Innovation, and the WITS Pediatric Research Unit. This report documents the key issues discussed and makes recommendations for the way forward on prioritising topic areas and appropriate methodology for evaluating digital health interventions in South Africa, especially aimed at supporting government digital health initiatives.

Introduction

Antenatal surveys have been used over several years to monitor antenatal HIV prevalence; however, antenatal surveys are costly to implement. Furthermore, they usually use unlinked anonymous HIV testing, which poses ethical dilemmas in the current era of test and treat, as pregnant women  living with HIV (PWLHIV) cannot be traced and referred into care. With increasing coverage of routine HIV testing for pregnant women it becomes prudent to investigate whether routine antenatal HIV testing can be used to monitor antenatal HIV prevalence.