Global Public Health
Volume 3, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 62-76

Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in a refugee camp setting in Tanzania (Article)

Rutta E.* , Gongo R. , Mwansasu A. , Mutasingwa D. , Rwegasira V. , Kishumbu S. , Tabayi J. , Masini T. , Ramadhani H.
  • a Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), Refugee Assistance Programme, Ngara, Tanzania
  • b Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), Refugee Assistance Programme, Ngara, Tanzania
  • c Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), Refugee Assistance Programme, Ngara, Tanzania
  • d Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
  • e Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), Refugee Assistance Programme, Ngara, Tanzania
  • f Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), Refugee Assistance Programme, Ngara, Tanzania
  • g United High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ngara, Tanzania
  • h United Children's Fund (UNICEF), Emergency Unit, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  • i United Children's Fund (UNICEF), Emergency Unit, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

The objective of this article is to describe the results of a 2-year pilot programme implementing prevention of mother to child HIV transmission (PMTCT) in a refugee camp setting. Interventions used were: community sensitization, trainings of healthcare workers, voluntary counselling and HIV testing (VCT), infant feeding, counselling, and administration of Nevirapine. Main outcome measures include: HIV testing acceptance rates, percentage of women receiving post test counselling, Nevirapine uptake, and HIV prevalence among pregnant women and their infants. Ninety-two percent of women (n = 9,346) attending antenatal clinics accepted VCT. All women who were tested for HIV received their results and posttest counselling. The HIV prevalence rate among the population was 3.2%. The overall Nevirapine uptake in the camp was 97%. Over a third of women were repatriated before receiving Nevirapine. Only 14% of male counterparts accepted VCT. Due to repatriation, parent's refusal, and deaths, HIV results were available for only 15% of infants born to HIV-infected mothers. The PMTCT programme was successfully integrated into existing antenatal care services and was acceptable to the majority of pregnant women. The major challenges encountered during the implementation of this programme were repatriation of refugees before administration of Nevirapine, which made it difficult to measure the impact of the PMTCT programme.

Author Keywords

Refugees HIV transmission Mother to child

Index Keywords

maternal care voluntary program refugee HIV education prenatal care Human immunodeficiency virus infection community care health care personnel follow up human infant feeding priority journal screening test refusal to participate Human immunodeficiency virus Human immunodeficiency virus prevalence Breast Feeding patient counseling health program male counseling female Infant preventive health service enzyme linked immunosorbent assay outcomes research pilot study prevalence Article patient compliance major clinical study adult health education Tanzania drug use nevirapine virus transmission single drug dose vertical transmission treatment refusal pregnant woman mortality sensitization child care
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-48949086621&doi=10.1080%2f17441690601111924&partnerID=40&md5=0069bff2530bc8aadf35d96aec15c0ed
DOI: 10.1080/17441690601111924
ISSN: 17441692
Cited by: 13
Original Language: English