Revista de SIDA e investigación clínica

Assessment of Antenatal Care Clients’ Willingness for HIV Counseling and Testing in Asella Governmental Health Institutions, Ethiopia

Abstract

Tadesse Fikre Lema

Background: It has been well established that mother to child transmission accounts for the majority of HIV infections in children below age 15 in developing countries. HIV counselling and testing is an important entry point for HIV prevention and for early access to treatment, care and support. Willingness for accepting HIV counselling and testing is the key component and a starting point of overall HIV prevention efforts and represents a critical opportunity for stemming the tide of the HIV epidemic. Objective: To assess willingness of antenatal care clients for HIV counselling and testing. Methods: Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted on 321 pregnant women attended antenatal care during the study period using interviewer administered, pre-tested, structured questionnaire from March to April, 2012 in Asella governmental health institutions. Data was collected using convenient sampling technique and then entered in Epi-info and analyzed using SPSS software. Result: Among the studied women 291 (90.7%) were willing for HIV counselling and testing. The strongest association rested with parity, number of antenatal care visits and perceived risk of HIV. Primipara women were about 12 times more likely willing for HIV counselling and testing than nullipara mothers (AOR=12.33, 95% CI=1.25,121.57), and also those who had 2 and above antenatal care visits were 9.6 times more likely willing for HIV counselling and testing than those who had only 1 visit (AOR=9.64, 95% CI=1.93,48.28). Women who were perceived themselves not at risk of acquiring HIV were more likely willing for HIV counselling and testing than their counterparts (AOR=0.08, 95% CI=0.01,0.41). Conclusion: This study revealed high-level of awareness about prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV among pregnant women attended antenatal care, and relatively increased proportion of willingness for HIV counselling and testing was seen when compared to other studies.