The necessity of HIV testing in Iranian pregnant women and its ethical considerations

A high number of HIV positive babies are born each year, whereas by highly effective preventive measures, the risk of mother-to-child transmission can be decreased significantly. There are different methods (for example mandatory versus voluntary) for HIV screening in pregnant women, but there are debates on conducting HIV testing by these methods. One of the most important issues in this field is its ethical considerations. Also its limitations cannot be ignored. According to these facts several keywords were searched by search engines such as Web of Sciences, Medline, Google scholar, WHO website. The most relevant and recent articles were chosen. Concerning the importance of vertical transmission of HIV, the role of preventive measures, ethical considerations, and the limitations of HIV screening, we recommend HIV testing offer to every pregnant women at the first clinic visit by providing enough information for patient and considering her autonomy. Also policy makers should provide a guideline for this test according to the pregnant women's autonomy, confidentiality, and dignity.