Prevalence of, and barriers to the disclosure of HIV status to infected children and adolescents in a district of Ghana

Abstract Background Globally there are about 3.3million children under the age of 15 years living with HIV. Of this number, 88% live in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, an estimated 33,000 children were said to be living with the HIV infection in 2012. Lack of disclosure adversely affects the well-bein...

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Main Authors: Eric Gyamfi, Paul Okyere, Acheampong Enoch, Emmanuel Appiah-Brempong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2017-04-01
Series:BMC International Health and Human Rights
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12914-017-0114-6
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spelling doaj-bf5035d1ee64472aaeae0f3dcf9fc7f02021-04-02T17:05:19ZengBMCBMC International Health and Human Rights1472-698X2017-04-011711810.1186/s12914-017-0114-6Prevalence of, and barriers to the disclosure of HIV status to infected children and adolescents in a district of GhanaEric Gyamfi0Paul Okyere1Acheampong Enoch2Emmanuel Appiah-Brempong3Margaret Marquart Catholic HospitalDepartment of Health Promotion and Education, School of Public Health, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyDepartment of Community Health, Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyDepartment of Health Promotion and Education, School of Public Health, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyAbstract Background Globally there are about 3.3million children under the age of 15 years living with HIV. Of this number, 88% live in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, an estimated 33,000 children were said to be living with the HIV infection in 2012. Lack of disclosure adversely affects the well-being of the child, including access to paediatric HIV treatment and care and adherence to treatment. However, the greatest psychosocial challenges that parents and caregivers of HIV-infected children face is disclosure of HIV status to their infected children. This study sought to determine the prevalence of and the barriers to the disclosure of HIV status to infected children and adolescents in Lower Manya-Krobo District in Ghana. Methods A cross sectional study with a sample of 118 caregivers of HIV infected children and adolescents aged 4–19 years attending three HIV clinics in the Lower Manya Krobo District, and 10 key informants comprising of healthcare workers and HIV volunteer workers involved in the provision of care to infected children and their families. Results The prevalence of disclosure was higher. Main barriers to disclosure identified in this study included age of child, perceived cause of HIV, stigma attached to HIV, child’s inability to keep diagnosis to self and fear of psychological harm to child. Conclusion There is the need for the Ghana Health Service in conjunction with the Ghana Aids Commission and the National Aids Control Programme to develop comprehensive context-based disclosure guidelines.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12914-017-0114-6PrevalenceBarriersHIV disclosureChildrenAdolescents
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Eric Gyamfi
Paul Okyere
Acheampong Enoch
Emmanuel Appiah-Brempong
spellingShingle Eric Gyamfi
Paul Okyere
Acheampong Enoch
Emmanuel Appiah-Brempong
Prevalence of, and barriers to the disclosure of HIV status to infected children and adolescents in a district of Ghana
BMC International Health and Human Rights
Prevalence
Barriers
HIV disclosure
Children
Adolescents
author_facet Eric Gyamfi
Paul Okyere
Acheampong Enoch
Emmanuel Appiah-Brempong
author_sort Eric Gyamfi
title Prevalence of, and barriers to the disclosure of HIV status to infected children and adolescents in a district of Ghana
title_short Prevalence of, and barriers to the disclosure of HIV status to infected children and adolescents in a district of Ghana
title_full Prevalence of, and barriers to the disclosure of HIV status to infected children and adolescents in a district of Ghana
title_fullStr Prevalence of, and barriers to the disclosure of HIV status to infected children and adolescents in a district of Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence of, and barriers to the disclosure of HIV status to infected children and adolescents in a district of Ghana
title_sort prevalence of, and barriers to the disclosure of hiv status to infected children and adolescents in a district of ghana
publisher BMC
series BMC International Health and Human Rights
issn 1472-698X
publishDate 2017-04-01
description Abstract Background Globally there are about 3.3million children under the age of 15 years living with HIV. Of this number, 88% live in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, an estimated 33,000 children were said to be living with the HIV infection in 2012. Lack of disclosure adversely affects the well-being of the child, including access to paediatric HIV treatment and care and adherence to treatment. However, the greatest psychosocial challenges that parents and caregivers of HIV-infected children face is disclosure of HIV status to their infected children. This study sought to determine the prevalence of and the barriers to the disclosure of HIV status to infected children and adolescents in Lower Manya-Krobo District in Ghana. Methods A cross sectional study with a sample of 118 caregivers of HIV infected children and adolescents aged 4–19 years attending three HIV clinics in the Lower Manya Krobo District, and 10 key informants comprising of healthcare workers and HIV volunteer workers involved in the provision of care to infected children and their families. Results The prevalence of disclosure was higher. Main barriers to disclosure identified in this study included age of child, perceived cause of HIV, stigma attached to HIV, child’s inability to keep diagnosis to self and fear of psychological harm to child. Conclusion There is the need for the Ghana Health Service in conjunction with the Ghana Aids Commission and the National Aids Control Programme to develop comprehensive context-based disclosure guidelines.
topic Prevalence
Barriers
HIV disclosure
Children
Adolescents
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12914-017-0114-6
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