NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

The Institute of Medicine was chartered in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to enlist distinguished members of the appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. In this, the Institute acts under the Academy’s 1863 congressional charter responsibility to be an adviser to the federal government and its own initiative in identifying issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

Support for this study was provided by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Contract No. 200-97-0651).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reducing the odds : preventing perinatal transmission of HIV in the United States / Michael A. Stoto, Donna A. Almario, and Marie C. McCormick, editors ; Committee on Perinatal Transmission of HIV, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine [and] Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council, Institute of Medicine.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. AIDS (Disease) in pregnancy—United States. 2. AIDS (Disease)in infants—United States—Prevention. 3. HIV infections—United States—Prevention. 4. AIDS (Disease) in women—Treatment—United States. I. Stoto, Michael A. II. Almario, Donna A. III. McCormick, Marie C. IV. Institute of Medicine (U.S.). Committee on Perinatal Transmission of HIV. V. Board on Children, Youth, and Families (U.S.)

RG580.A44 R43 1998

618.3—dc21

98-40214

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The serpent has been a symbol of long life, healing, and knowledge among almost all cultures and religions since the beginning of recorded history. The image adopted as a logotype by the Institute of Medicine is based on a relief carving from ancient Greece, now held by the Staatliche Museen in Berlin.