Assessment of the Implementation of the 2010 WHO Recommendations on Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV in Namutumba District.

Abstract

This study assessed the Implementation of the 2010 WHO Recommendations for Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV among HIV positive mothers attending eMTCT clinic in Namutumba district. Background: Available literature indicates that HIV continues to affect the lives of millions of children, (AVERT, 2016). The global report on new HIV infection among children in 2013 was close to 240,000 HIV and MTCT attributed mostly to pediatric new infections. In the struggle to eliminate new pediatric HIV infections, the World Health Organization (WHO) revised the guidelines for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in 2010. Many countries have adopted the WHO recommendations on eMTCT however reports from partners suggest that the progress has been slow. The objective: To assess the Implementation of WHO 2010 Recommendations on Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV among HIV Positive Mothers Attending eMTCT services in Namutumba district Methodology: The study design was descriptive and cross sectional in nature. Quantitative approaches were used. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain responses from the respondents. Consent of the respondents was obtained before the respondents were interviewed. Results: At multivariate level of analysis of the following factors: background characteristics of the respondents, HIV testing for mother and baby, mother and baby receiving ARVS as recommended,appropriate infant practices and mother and baby receiving a complete care package was done with the aim of determining their influence on Mother-Baby pair receiving Complete Care Package, revealed the following factors as significant: if the mother was 19-28years (OR 3.658, 95% CI .643-20.822), a mother being 29-38years (OR 3.120, 95% CI .561-17.343), an infant being between 2-4 months (OR 20.222, 95% CI 5.494-74.436), an infant being 6-10months (OR 8.718, 95% CI 2.627-28.934), a mother knowing her HIV status (OR 3.320, 95% CI 1.086-10.150), how ARVs were taken by the respondent (OR 3.238, 95% CI .643-16.321), missing the ARV refill (OR 1.512, 95% CI .504-4.539), a baby being breast within 1 hour of birth (OR 3.201, 95% CI .309-33.152), giving a baby other types of feeds before 6 months(OR 5.352, 95% CI .1.443-19.856). Conclusion: Age of mother and baby influenced the receiving of eMTCT package. The younger the baby (being 2-4 months old the more likely it is for baby to receive the eMTCT package; Mother‟s aged between the years 19-18 years were more likely to receive the complete care package; Knowledge of HIV status by the mother influenced the uptake of the eMTCT package; Adherence to ARVS influenced the uptake of the eMTCT package; A baby being breastfed within one hour of delivery was associated with the uptake of eMTCT. Recommendation: More emphasis on counseling to older mothers in order to enhance them adhering to the recommended services for eMTCT. A mechanism for following up mothers with older infants is required to ensure older babies and their mothers receive services HIV testing for all mothers should be continued. To strengthen counseling on adherence to improve eMTCT.