Women's reasons for not participating in follow up visits before starting short course antiretroviral prophylaxis for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV: qualitative interview study

This publication aims find out why pregnant women attending a public antenatal clinic in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire do not participate in necessary follow up visits before starting antiretroviral prophylaxis. It takes a sample of 27 women who had received HIV-1 positive test results and were invited to return for monthly follow up visits before starting treatment to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child, but who had either refused or discontinued the visits. None of the women started prophylaxis.

The study found that most of the women explained their non-participation in follow up visits by referring to negative experiences that they had had while interacting with programme staff or to their views about the programme. Additional reasons concerned their disbelief of HIV positive test results and personal factors. It suggests that a training and supervision of programme staff may increase the likelihood of positive interactions between staff and clients. Outreach and mobilisation in communities that are served by prevention programmes could also complement these measures at programme level by contributing to increased social support for women's efforts to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child. [adapted from author]