<p>Disclosure of HIV positive status to male partners is well established as a key element in the success of prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV programmes, as it helps improve adherence to ARVs by the women within these programme. However, partner notification rates remain low in the urban areas of Lusaka, Zambia against a high HIV prevalence of 25%. The purpose of this study was to explore the timing of disclosure as part of the process of disclosure amongst women who were part of the PMTCT services at Kaulu health centre in Lusaka. An exploratory descriptive study using qualitative research methods was conducted. 15 women, who were attending the Kaulu health centre PMTCT programme, were requested to participate in a semi-structured interview. The women, who were purposively selected with the aid of the health centre‟s PMTCT focal point nurse, had to have disclosed their HIV positive status to their partner, either before or during the course of their pregnancy or after delivery. To increase rigour,&nbsp / individual interviews were conducted with 5 health workers associated with the PMTCT programme so as to obtain their perspective and experiences on the issue of HIV disclosure amongst their PMTCT patients. Participation in the study was voluntary and all information obtained during the course of the interviews remained confidential and secure. Potential participants were each provided with an explanation of the purpose and process of the study and their informed written consent obtained before the researcher embarked on the interviews. Content analysis of the transcripts was done so as to develop coding categories and identify emerging themes. Disclosure to male partners is an important step in PMTCT and facilitates adherence to HIV care for the family and should be done as early as possible after the woman receives her HIV test result, though there exists a range of alternative times when it can be done. The relationship existing between a couple is very important in determining the timing of when a woman chooses to disclose. PMTCT services need to provide ongoing counselling for HIV positive women during pregnancy and after giving birth that supports, informs and equips them with the necessary skills to make an informed and timely decision about disclosure to a partner. In addition, the PMTCT service providers need to be encouraged to implement couple counselling as a strategy to facilitate disclosure as well as establishment of a peer support network for HIV positive pregnant women. The study findings will be used to contribute to health workers‟ capacity to support women manage the disclosure process to their male partners, thus helping to increase the disclosure rate and also contributing to improving the positive effect of the PMTCT services, in Lusaka, Zambia</p>

Magister Public Health - MPH / Since the introduction in 2005 of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services in Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria the PMTCT programme has faced several challenges including that of poor male participation in the PMTCT programme. To date no research has focused on the issue of male participation in PMTCT programmes in Akwa Ibom State, and there is thus a limited understanding of why so few male partners of HIVpositive pregnant women participate in the State's PMTCT programme. It is therefore important to explore the factors affecting male involvement in PMTCT programmes in Akwa Ibom State, so that strategies can be put in place to help improve the overall health of their families and themselves. The overall aim of the study was thus to explore the factors affecting male participation in the PMTCT programme at a primary health care center in West Itam, Akwa Ibom State, in Nigeria. This explorative study was conducted using a descriptive qualitative research approach. The research study approach helped to understand the perspectives of the male partners of HIV positive pregnant women who received the PMTCT intervention, as well as key informants in the Primary Health Care (PHC) facility where these PMTCT services are offered. The study population consisted of all males living within the catchment area of the West Itam PHC, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. In the research study, 11 men were purposively sampled: five of whom were the partners of HIV-positive women who had attended, or were currently attending the PMTCT services at the West Itam PHC with their partner. The other six interviewees were local male community members – who would be eligible to potentially accompany their partner to PMTCT services at the facility. The data was collected through individual, in-depth interviews with the male partners and community members using a semi-structured interview guide. One focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted with key personnel working in the West Itam PHC using a semistructured interview guide. All interviews and the FGD were tape-recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Ethical approval was first obtained from the UWC Research Ethics Committee and the Ethics Committee of the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Health before proceeding with the study. From this study, it is suggested that most of the respondents knew that PMTCT services are offered at the PHC West Itam. They knew their partner's next antenatal appointment, but only very few accompany their pregnant partners to the antenatal clinic. The striking reason being a lack of time/being busy. The key means of support of the partners' antenatal visits was giving their pregnant partners money for transport, and money for food/snacks (at the clinic). Inter-spousal communication was found to be good, and there appeared to be a perception by the men that antenatal clinic (ANC)/PMTCT is not only for women, with most of the men agreeing that it is useful for men to participate in PMTCT. The barriers to male participation in the PMTCT programme that were elicited in this study include lack of belief about HIV/AIDS and lack of awareness about PMTCT and the perception of PMTCT as a "women's affair". Another barrier to male participation in the PMTCT programme was the men being busy with their jobs/lack of time, and fear. Facility-based barriers include delays/time wasting at the clinic, and the nurses, who were identified as having an unaccommodating attitude towards the clients. Finally, the fact that the nurses and counsellors at the PHC West Itam were all female was a problem for men. It is recommended that there is need for advocacy and education to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, and encourage male participation in PMTCT. It is also important to encourage the disclosure of HIV status by the women to their male partners. Furthermore, a separate male counselling unit needs to be created, as well as ensuring the employment of male nurses and counsellors. Additionally, the female nurses at the facility need to be trained/re-trained on proper attitude and confidentiality, and efforts must be made to avoid delays at the clinic.

Master of Public Health - MPH / Background: Zimbabwe has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in sub-Saharan Africa, with the adult prevalence rate at 15%. The HIV prevalence is highest among adult women, at 18%. Mother-to-child transmission is the second leading cause of HIV in Zimbabwe. Therefore, provision of anti-retroviral therapy to pregnant women is important in reducing mother-to-child transmission. In 2012, the World Health Organisation formally adopted ART guidelines known as "Option B Plus", where triple therapy is provided to pregnant women for life, regardless of CD4 count. Zimbabwe subsequently adopted Option B Plus in September 2013. However, the success of ART depends on adherence to treatment. Lack of adherence to treatment leads to an increased risk of opportunistic infections and drug resistance, which is costly to treat. The aim of the study was to explore pre-and post-partum barriers to anti-retroviral therapy for HIV-positive women initiated onto Option B Plus in Harare, Zimbabwe. Methodology: Descriptive qualitative methods were used to explore the barriers to ART adherence for pre-and post-partum HIV-positive women initiated onto Option B Plus in Harare, Zimbabwe. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted in Shona with 20 non-adherent pre-and post-partum HIV-positive women and four key informants who are health workers from two identified health facilities (Edith Opperman Polyclinic and Kuwadzana Polyclinic). The interviews were recorded, transcribed and translated into English. The data was analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Health facility and individual factors emerged as barriers to adherence. Heavy workload and staff shortages, negative health worker attitude, cost of accessing health facilities, medicine shortages and detrimental health facility policies were all health facility related barriers identified by both key informants and the women. Individual barriers were related to difficulty in navigating the early days after diagnosis and treatment, stigma, intimate partner dynamics and religion. Conclusion: Despite free, decentralised provision of ART, barriers to adherence still exist. Many of the barriers have been articulated in previous research that focused on prevention of- mother-to-child transmission regimens, as well as ART regimens for the general population. The fact that the barriers remain suggests that the barriers are complex and addressing them will require tackling social constraints such as stigma and gender roles that pose a significant barrier to adherence.

Magister Public Health - MPH / Introduction Mother to Child Transmission is a significant route of HIV infection in children and in South Africa (SA) the median HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women is 30, 2% and in the Western Cape Province (WCP) it is 18, 2%. lthough Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes are now available at 100% of all health care facilities and 95% of women attend antenatal care, these programmes are complex and outcome data reveals fluctuations in transmission rates as well as pockets of high transmission within well performing sub-districts. The careful management of programme processes thus requires more than coverage and outcome data. It also requires a clear picture of process indicators related to access to PMTCT services, the quality and continuity of care within the PMTCT programme and integration of PMTCT service into the comprehensive package of health care services. Aims and objectives To develop a tool that will measure the quality of care of HIV exposed infants in the PMTCT programme at primary care setting in Cape Town, by engaging local programme managers in a participatory process to develop a tool that is locally applicable and relevant, and captures local management expertise. To identify the evaluation omains, to develop a set of indicators for each domain and to pilot the tool to assess its feasibility and usefulness of the data generated.

Magister Public Health - MPH / Disclosure of HIV positive status to male partners is well established as a key element in the success of prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV programmes, as it helps improve adherence to ARVs by the women within these programme. However, partner notification rates remain low in the urban areas of Lusaka, Zambia against a high HIV prevalence of 25%. The purpose of this study was to explore the timing of disclosure as part of the process of disclosure amongst women who were part of the PMTCT services at Kaulu health centre in Lusaka. An exploratory descriptive study using qualitative research methods was conducted. 15 women, who were attending the Kaulu health centre PMTCT programme, were requested to participate in a semi-structured interview. The women, who were purposively selected with the aid of the health centre‟s PMTCT focal point nurse, had to have disclosed their HIV positive status to their partner, either before or during the course of their pregnancy or after delivery. To increase rigour, individual interviews were conducted with 5 health workers associated with the PMTCT programme so as to obtain their perspective and experiences on the issue of HIV disclosure amongst their PMTCT patients. Participation in the study was voluntary and all information obtained during the course of the interviews remained confidential and secure. Potential participants were each provided with an explanation of the purpose and process of the study and their informed written consent obtained before the researcher embarked on the interviews. Content analysis of the transcripts was done so as to develop coding categories and identify emerging themes. Disclosure to male partners is an important step in PMTCT and facilitates adherence to HIV care for the family and should be done as early as possible after the woman receives her HIV test result, though there exists a range of alternative times when it can be done. The relationship existing between a couple is very important in determining the timing of when a woman chooses to disclose. PMTCT services need to provide ongoing counselling for HIV positive women during pregnancy and after giving birth that supports, informs and equips them with the necessary skills to make an informed and timely decision about disclosure to a partner. In addition, the PMTCT service providers need to be encouraged to implement couple counselling as a strategy to facilitate disclosure as well as establishment of a peer support network for HIV positive pregnant women. The study findings will be used to contribute to health workers‟ capacity to support women manage the disclosure process to their male partners, thus helping to increase the disclosure rate and also contributing to improving the positive effect of the PMTCT services, in Lusaka, Zambia. / South Africa

En 2004, l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) recommandait dans les pays à ressources limitées, l’utilisation de la multithérapie antirétrovirale (MARV) chez les femmes enceintes éligibles au traitement antirétroviral pour leur propre santé. Le but visé était de réduire de manière plus significative encore le taux de transmission de la mère à l’enfant du VIH (TME) parmi les femmes à haut risque. Cependant, très peu de données étaient alors disponibles en Afrique sub-saharienne sur les bénéfices de la MARV en termes de réduction du TME, y compris pendant l’allaitement, et les risques de survenue d’effets indésirables graves (EIG) chez les femmes enceintes ainsi que sur d’éventuelles issues défavorables des grossesses (fausse couche, prématurité, mort-né et petit poids de naissance). De plus, en Afrique sub-saharienne, le régime de première ligne chez les femmes enceintes infectées par le VIH comprend presque toujours la lamivudine (3TC) et la névirapine (NVP), deux molécules antirétrovirales utilisées jusqu’à présent en régimes courts dans la PTME. La survenue de mutations de résistance à ces molécules après une telle utilisation pourrait donc compromettre le succès au traitement de première ligne dans le cadre d’une MARV. Nous avons étudié ces différentes questions à Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) pour notre thèse avec les données du programme MTCT-Plus de prise en charge familiale avec comme porte d’entrée la femme enceinte infectée par le VIH, programme mis en place en juillet 2003. Cinq études ont ainsi été réalisées pour notre thèse. La première étude a porté sur la réponse virologique et/ou immunologique à 12 mois puis à 36 mois après l'initiation d’un régime antirétroviral de première ligne chez les femmes préalablement exposées à la névirapine monodose (NVPmd) et/ou au 3TC pour la PTME. Les délais médians entre l’exposition au 3TC ou à la NVP et l’initiation du traitement étaient respectivement de 22 mois et de 15 mois. Après 12 mois de MARV, 19,2% des femmes étaient en échec virologique et 11,1% des femmes étaient en échec immunologique. La survenue de mutations de résistance au 3TC après une exposition à ces ARV administrés dans le cadre d’un régime court de PTME était associée à une mauvaise réponse virologique à 12 mois de MARV, mais pas à une mauvaise immunologique à 12 et 36 mois. La survenue de résistance à la NVP après une exposition à la NVPmd n’était pas plus associée à une mauvaise réponse virologique à 12 mois qu’à une mauvaise réponse immunologique à 12 et 36 mois. La deuxième étude a porté sur l’estimation du taux de TME en fonction du type de recommandations de l’OMS qui était en vigueur. Le taux de TME à 12 mois était de 3,3% chez les femmes éligibles qui ont reçu une MARV (1,9% pour la transmission postnatale) et de 7,5% chez les femmes non éligibles ayant reçu un régime court d’antirétroviraux pour la PTME (3,5% pour la transmission postnatale). La troisième étude a porté sur l’estimation de l’incidence des effets indésirables graves (grade ¾), spécialement de l’hépatotoxicité et/ou du rash cutané, en fonction des CD4 et de l’initiation ou non d’une MARV contenant la NVP au cours de la grossesse. Durant un suivi médian de 25 mois, l’incidence des EIG était de 19,5 pour 100 femme-années. La probabilité de survenue d’hépatotoxicité et/ou de rash cutané à 24 mois n’était pas différente entre les femmes ayant des CD4 > 250 cellules/mm3 et celles ayant des CD4 = 250 cellules/mm3 (8,3% vs 9,9%, p = 0,75). De même, la probabilité de survenue d’hépatotoxicité et/ou de rash cutané à trois mois (durée médiane de grossesse) n’était pas différente entre les femmes initiant la MARV durant la grossesse et celles l’initiant en dehors de la grossesse (5,3% vs 7,5%, p = 0,35). / In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) began recommending Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) for pregnant women who were eligible for antiretroviral treatment in resource-limited settings. The aim of this recommendation was to significantly reduce the rate of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), which remained high despite the use of short-course regimens for the prevention of MTCT (PMTCT). However, very little sub-Saharan Africa data were available on the benefits in reducing MTCT, including while breastfeeding, and the risks of occurrence of severe adverse events (SAEs) and adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with HAART. Moreover, the first regimen recommended for HIV-infected pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa almost always included lamivudine (3TC) and nevirapine (NVP), two drugs used also for short-course PMTCT regimens. Thus, the relevant clinical question is whether the occurrence of viral resistance mutations, which could arise after using these drugs for PMTCT, might have an impact on the success of a future first-line regimen. We conducted five studies on pregnancy and HAART use in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, using data from the MTCT-Plus program, which was established in July 2003 as a multi-country family-centered program provides HIV care and treatment to pregnant and postpartum women and their families. The first study evaluated the 12 and 36-month virologic and/or immunologic response of NVP and 3TC-based HAART in women previously exposed to these drugs for PMTCT. The median intervals between exposure to 3TC or NVP and HAART initiation were 22 months and 15 months, respectively. After 12 months of HAART, 19.2% of women experienced virologic failure and 11.1% experienced immunologic failure. Resistance to 3TC tested at week 4 after delivery was associated with virologic failure at 12 months; but not immunologic failure at 12 and 36-month. Resistance to NVP tested at week 4 after delivery was not associated with virologic failure at 12 months or immunologic failure at 12 and 36-months. The second study assessed the efficacy of the WHO-recommended two-tiered PMTCT strategy. The MTCT rate 12 months was 3.3% among eligible women who received HAART (postnatal transmission, 1.9%) and 7.5% among non-eligible women who received short-course regimen for PMTCT (postnatal transmission, 3.5%). The third study estimated the incidence of SAEs (grade ¾), especially hepatotoxicity and/or skin rash, according to CD4 and initiation of NVP–based HAART during pregnancy. The incidence of SAEs was 19.5 per 100 woman-years after a median follow-up of 25 months. The probability of hepatotoxicity or rash 24 months after HAART initiation was similar in women with CD4 cell counts >250 cells/mm3 and =250 cells/mm3 (8.3% vs. 9.9%; log-rank test: p=0.75). Similarly, the probability of hepatotoxicity or rash 3 months after HAART initiation (median duration of pregnancy) was similar in women who initiated HAART during pregnancy and those who did not (5.3% vs. 7.5%; log-rank test, p=0.35).

Magister Curationis - MCur / The pandemic of HIV is the most severe health challenge affecting children across the world and it is estimated that more than 90% of all HIV infections in children result from Mother to Child Transmissions (MTCT). The global target of <2% MTCT risk of HIV has still not been achieved despite the duration of the implementation of the programme and its great progress. The prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programme is a programme developed to enable health care practitioners to provide essential care to mothers in order to prevent the transmission of the virus to their infants.

No description available.

Thesis in English, Annexure E: Consent form (leaf 81) as well as KABP Survey Questionnaire (leaves 87-91) in English and SiSwati. / The purpose of the study was to assess knowledge, explore attitudes and determine practices of breastfeeding mothers living with HIV regarding post-natal PMTCT interventions and services. The study was quantitative and descriptive in nature, utilising a retrospective cohort design. The study sample included breastfeeding mothers living with HIV, who attended the King Sobhuza II public health unit in the Manzini region of Swaziland. A written questionnaire was administered to a non-random sample of 90 consecutively selected mothers living with HIV attending the above-cited public health unit for post-natal health purposes. The overall study results revealed that the majority of breastfeeding mothers living with HIV in the afore-mentioned region (77.8%) presented high levels of knowledge on PMTCT, and 90% demonstrated a positive attitude; while a further 90% also demonstrated positive behaviour towards PMTCT. However, stigma and discrimination among family members, non-disclosure of HIV status to sexual partners; as well as poverty and fear of future drug-resistance are the cause of non-adherence to ARV prophylaxis. Furthermore, inconsistent condom use, mixed-feeding methods and wet-nursing also emerged as other contributing factors to the increase of post-natal mother-to-child transmission of HIV among breastfeeding mothers living with HIV. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

Thesis in English, Annexure E: Consent form (leaf 81) as well as KABP Survey Questionnaire (leaves 87-91) in English and SiSwati. / The purpose of the study was to assess knowledge, explore attitudes and determine practices of breastfeeding mothers living with HIV regarding post-natal PMTCT interventions and services. The study was quantitative and descriptive in nature, utilising a retrospective cohort design. The study sample included breastfeeding mothers living with HIV, who attended the King Sobhuza II public health unit in the Manzini region of Swaziland. A written questionnaire was administered to a non-random sample of 90 consecutively selected mothers living with HIV attending the above-cited public health unit for post-natal health purposes. The overall study results revealed that the majority of breastfeeding mothers living with HIV in the afore-mentioned region (77.8%) presented high levels of knowledge on PMTCT, and 90% demonstrated a positive attitude; while a further 90% also demonstrated positive behaviour towards PMTCT. However, stigma and discrimination among family members, non-disclosure of HIV status to sexual partners; as well as poverty and fear of future drug-resistance are the cause of non-adherence to ARV prophylaxis. Furthermore, inconsistent condom use, mixed-feeding methods and wet-nursing also emerged as other contributing factors to the increase of post-natal mother-to-child transmission of HIV among breastfeeding mothers living with HIV. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)