HIV Knowledge and Acceptance of Provider Initiated HIV Testing and counseling Among Antenatal Care Attendees at General Hospitals in Lagos, Nigeria

Background: Most HIV infected pregnant women may not be aware of their positive status.Most of the children living with HIV today got infected as a result of mother to child transmission. Provider Initiated HIV testing and counseling is one of the strategies to improve uptake of HCT aimed at achieving zero new HIV infection among children.Objective: This study was carried out to assess the knowledge and acceptance of provider initiated HIV testing and counseling among pregnant women attending General Hospitals in Lagos State.Methods:This cross sectional study was carried out in July 2013. Using a multi-stage sampling method, 326 pregnant women seeking ante-natal care (ANC) in General Hospitals in Lagos State were selected. Information was collected with interviewer-administered questionnaires and data analyzed with Epi-info version 3.5.1. Chi square test was used to test for associations at a significance level of 5%.Results: Majority of the respondents were married (92.6%), Christians (81.0%),employed (71.2%), had tertiary education(77.9%), primips (53.4%) and the mean age was 29.89years.Knowledge of the various routes of MTCT was poor: during pregnancy 59.7%, vaginal delivery 37.1%, and breastfeeding 63.5%, Majority (70%) had good knowledge generally of HIV, MTCT and PMTCT. Majority(98.1%) accepted to be tested for HIV;among this group 85.5% accepted to be tested to enable themknow their status. Respondents who had tertiary education (p<0.001) and previous pregnancy (p=0.013) were more likely to have good knowledge of PITC. Good knowledge was associated with acceptance of PITC (p<0.001).Conclusion: Acceptance of provider initiated HIV testing and counseling was high among our study population. There is however a need to provide comprehensive information to improve their knowledge of specific routes of MTCT.Key words: PITC, MTCT, HIV, Nigeri

Birth preparedness and complication readiness among women in Surulere Local Government Area, Lagos State, Nigeria

Background: The progress in maternal and newborn care over the years has been remarkable. In Nigeria many births are still not  attended to by skilled birth attendants (SBA). Hence maternal and newborn mortality remain high. Birth preparedness and complications readiness (BCPR) is a key intervention towards improving these indices, recommended by the World Health Organization and adopted by the governments of many nations including Nigeria. Every pregnant woman faces the risk of sudden, unpredictable complications that could end in death or injury to herself or to her infant. This study, therefore, aims to address this risk by assessingknowledge, attitude and practice associated with BPCR among women in Surulere Local Government Area in Lagos, Nigeria. Methodology: The study was a descriptive crosssectional study among 216 , selected by multi-stage sampling technique. Data was collected through a using a pretested, interviewer-administered questionnaire and analysis was carried out using Microsoft Excel 2010 and Epi Info 7 statistical software. The level of significance was predetermined at p<0.05. Results: Overall, 46.3% of respondents had good knowledge of the danger signs that could occur before, during or after delivery. Over  half of the women (52.3%) had a positive attitude towards BPCR, while 62.0% of the respondents practiced a good level of birth preparedness and readiness for any complication that might arise during pregnancy and delivery. Good knowledge was associated with level of education (p<0.001), occupation (p=0.022) and number of children (p=0.046). Knowledge was significantly associated with attitude (<0.001) but not practice. Conclusion: The study showed that the respondents had poor knowledge of BPCR and positive attitude towards it. Many of them were  not birth prepared nor complications ready. Interventions aimed at increasing BPCR practices should be focused on educating women, increasing awareness through health education and providing skilled maternal and newborn care services

Sexually transmitted infections knowledge, practices and treatment: assessing facility treatment gap among female sex workers in Lagos, Nigeria

Background:  Globally as significant progress was made in reducing new cases of viral STI specifically HIV and HPV, new strains of antibiotic resistant STI causing organisms emerged. Key population having high burden of bacterial STI also have high prevalence and incidence of HIV. This study was carried out to assess knowledge about STI, HIV and HCT as well as to identify prevention and treatment practices for STI among brothel based female sex workers in two urban communities in Lagos state.Materials and Method: A cross sectional descriptive study design was used; sample size of 300 was calculated. The study population is females who sell sex in brothels in two communities in Lagos. Simple random sampling was used to select 15 brothels from the list of brothels compiled in each local government through community mapping. The rooms in the brothel were the unit of sampling, 10 female sex workers were interviewed in each of the brothels using a pre tested questionnaire. Data analysis was done with IBM SPSS statistics version 20. Frequencies percentages and means were generated. Relationship was demonstrated using Chi square at p<0.05Results: The mean age was 27.77 + 6.16, majority were less than 30years of age (72.0%), single (75.7%), from the southsouth zone of Nigeria (57.0%) and had at least a secondary school education (51.7%). Three quarters of the single FSW had steady sexual partners. A high proportion of the respondents still have misconceptions about routes of transmission and prevention of HIV. About half (53.3%) had good knowledge of HIV/AIDS, 90.0% knew that Ebola Virus Disease can be sexually transmitted and 62.0% had good knowledge of the symptoms of STI. A high proportion reported symptoms of STI (25.0% genital itching, 14.7% genital discharge). Treatment was obtained mostly from the chemist (44.0%) followed by self-medication (42.7%) and health facility (38.7%). Over two thirds have been tested for HIV. All the respondents reported condom use with paying and non-paying casual partners but consistent use was higher with paying partners. A high proportion (77.0%) reported burst condom which was treated by using antibiotics. FSW who were single (p=0.002) and those from the South South-zone of Nigeria (p=0.010) were more likely to be knowledgeable about STI symptoms. Young FSW (<24years) were more likely to use female condoms (p=0.023) and get tested for HIV (p=0.008).Conclusion: FSW in this study had high burden of STI and poor treatment practices. A high proportion also had poor knowledge of HIV and STI. Health workers did not play a major role in giving information about HIV/HCT and STI or in providing treatment. There is a need to promote referrals, linkages and contact between healthcare workers and this vulnerable group to ensure access to correct information and appropriate treatment.Keywords: STI, Female Sex Workers, Lago