The Role of Partner Involvement in Disclosure of HIV Sero Status among Women Receiving EMTCT Services:

Abstract

The major objective of the study was to establish the role of partner involvement in HIV sero status disclosure among women receiving EMTCT services at TASO Mulago. The specific objectives of the study were; to determine the proportion of women receiving EMTCT services at TASO Mulago who had disclosed their HIV sero status to their sexual partners, to assess the sexual partner factors that influenced HIV sero status disclosure, to establish the relationship between male partner factors that influence disclosure and to assess other factors that influence HIV sero status disclosure among women receiving EMTCT services. Methodology This study was carried out at TASO Mulago in September 2014 on 230 women receiving EMTCT. The study adopted a descriptive cross sectional study design and both primary and secondary data sources were used. Primary data was collected using a focus group discussion with HIV positive women and researcher-administered questionnaires which were given to the women seeking PMTCT services at TASO Mulago. Chi-square test to determine the presence of statistically significant associations (p<0.05). Conclusions The proportion of women receiving EMTCT services who had ever disclosed their HIV sero status to their sexual partners/spouses was low. Women‟s sero status disclosure was found to depend on the woman‟s sexual partner‟s current health status; period spent under HIV treatment as well partner support. Other factors such as marital status and education level were found not to determine whether or not a woman disclosed her sero status. Intervening factors such as counseling and family support were found to play a vital role in sero status disclosure. Recommendations Routine counseling on sero status disclosure should be emphasized by all health facilities offering ART treatment services so that it can be scaled up. All HIV programs should put more emphasis on involving women‟s sexual partners before, during and after HIV testing because this could help ease the difficulties women face in disclosing their sero status to their partners especially when found sero positive.