RESEARCH ARTICLE Evaluation of a quality imp

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Great strides have been made in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), but much remains to be done. An estimated 390,000 children worldwide were newly infected with HIV in 2010, over 86 % of them through mother-to-child transmission [1]. Mothers suffer as well: HIV has become a leading contributor to maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa [2], with an estimated 42,000 to 60,000 pregnant women worldwide dying because of HIV in 2009 [3]. UNAIDS has developed a Global Plan to virtually eliminate new HIV infections among children and sharply reduce the number of AIDS-related maternal deaths by 2015 [3]. The four-pronged approach involves