Global Guidance on Criteria and Processes for Validation: Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (EMTCT) of HIV and Syphilis

The global community has committed itself to eliminating mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV and syphilis as a public health priority. The initiative to eliminate mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV and syphilis focuses on a harmonized approach to improving health outcomes for mothers and children. The global community has set international and regional goals, and countries are scaling up programmes towards EMTCT of HIV and syphilis.

This document outlines minimum global processes and criteria for validation of EMTCT of HIV and/or syphilis in a country; provides a description of global EMTCT validation targets and indicators; explains the operation of validation committees and secretariats; and reviews the validation procedure itself, including maintenance of validation status. This document is intended for use by national, regional, and global validation committees for EMTCT of HIV and/or syphilis, national AIDS and sexually transmitted infection (STI) programme managers, maternal and child health programme managers, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) officers, policy-makers and staff of technical agencies, and international partners involved in supporting initiatives for EMTCT of HIV and/or syphilis.