ABSTRACT
As of December 2015 there were 37 million persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), 70% of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana, which contributes a relatively small number to Africa's HIV burden, has a generalised HIV epidemic. The current national prevalence is 1.47%. Agormanya, one of the HIV sentinel sites in the county and where this study was conducted, has current prevalence of 11.6%. This makes it critical to explore how persons infected with HIV manage their lives, especially in the midst of entrenched stigma and discrimination. However, available information on how PLWHAs in sub-Saharan Africa handle their day-to-day lives mostly dwell on food and nutrition. Thus, there is dearth of information on how PLWHAs in Ghana particularly handle the circumstances of their daily lives which are mostly coloured by their HIV-positive statuses, given their stigmatised identity. We explore how PLWHAs respond to the experiences and challenges of living with HIV/AIDS in Lower Manya Krobo, consistently most HIV-infected district in Ghana. Data were collected from 38 combined purposive and randomly selected HIV-positive persons in two leading hospitals (St Martins Depores Agormanya and Atua Government hospitals which provide specialised HIV care in the district. Using in-depth interviews, we studied how PLWHAs managed their routine livelihoods in the midst of extreme stigma. We combined the social capital and resilience theoretical frameworks to show that our respondents were mostly resilient and strategically mostly drew upon extended family social support to cope with their livelihood challenges. We recommend that community opinion leaders and other stakeholders sensitise community members in Lower Manya Krobo to better understand the mode of HIV infection and encourage/strengthen family and community cohesion and social support
Subject(s)
HIV Infections , HIV SeropositivityABSTRACT
Background: In the absence of an effective vaccine and cure for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), testing and counseling for HIV remains an important intervention in the control of the infection. However, utilization of this service in Ghana is very low especially among men. This study assessed the utilization of HIV testing and counseling (HTC) and the associated reasons for use or non-use of the service among men in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Methods: The study was a population-based cross-sectional survey. A total of 610 men, aged 18– 59 years residing in Bolgatanga Municipality were randomly selected using a modified WHO cluster sampling technique. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire through home visits over a period of three weeks. Associations between the outcomes and each of the explanatory variables were assessed using bivariate Chi squares test. A p-value less than 0.05 was taken to be statistically significant. Results: Majority of the respondents (99.3%) knew of a test that could identify HIV in an individual; however, 63.6% felt they were at no risk/low risk of being infected with HIV. About 89.8% of those who had heard of HIV test could locate at least one testing centre. Radio/television was the most frequent (68.4%) source of information. Only 27.7% of the respondents had ever tested for HIV of which 99.4% of them had received their test results. The annual HIV testing rates among the sampled men was 7.7%. Reasons given by respondents for use or non-use of testing and counseling services span socio-cultural and health service-related reasons, and personal beliefs. Educational and employment statuses of respondents were found to be associated with the utilization of HIV testing and counseling services (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Utilization of HIV testing and counseling services by men in Bolgatanga Municipality is low. Low perception of HIV risk, fear of stigma, and false positive results were the key reasons for not being tested.
ABSTRACT
This study assessed coverage of Reproductive Health (RH) issuesfamily planning (FP), abortion, and HIVin the Ghanaian Daily Graphic newspaper. Using the composite week sampling technique, the researcher analyzed the contents of 62 editions of the paper. Prominence was measured using various attributes, and differences in mean coverage over time were assessed using analysis of variance. This review shows that coverage of RH issues was extraordinarily poor, less than 1 percent each for FP, abortion, and HIV. RH news that was covered was given little prominence. These findings support the popular impression that the Daily Graphic does not give priority to reproductive health issues in its coverage. RH advocates need to develop innovative means of integrating RH content into existing media outlets. (Afr J Reprod Health 2010; 14[4]: 83-89)