RESUMO
Background: Differentiated care is an innovative multi-dimensional strategy for improving access to HIV care and treatment outcomes. However, its successful implementation depends on attitudes and perceptions of practitioners.Objectives: This study assessed the attitudes and perception of community pharmacists on HIV differentiated care and services.Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria. The portion of the study reported in this paper consisted of a 10 items Likert questions to assess attitudes and perceptions of community pharmacists on differentiated HIV care and services. The Statistical Package forSocial Sciences version 20 was used to manage data. The reliability of the instrument was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha. Descriptive statistics were presented as tables and figures.Results:Seventy-three 73 community pharmacists completed our questionnaire out of 110 distributed, giving a response rate of 66.4%. Mean age of respondents was 37.7+7.8 years. Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency of the perception scale was 0.9 indicating good reliability of the instrument. Overall, respondents had a positive perception regarding suitability and benefits of differentiated HIV care and services in community pharmacies. Highest agreement was to the perception that differentiated care would encourage collaboration between community pharmacies and the rest of the health system.Conclusion:Willingness and positive perceptions of community pharmacists about the suitability and benefits of providing HIV differentiated care and services were identified.
RESUMO
Background. Undergoing mandatory HIV testing as a criterion for a surgical or invasive procedure is illegal in Nigeria, and unethical. This includes requesting an HIV test without the consent of the client, and the disclosure of the test results.Objectives. To assess the practice of mandatory HIV testing among health practitioners, andtoexamine HIV testing without consent, and the disclosure of test results to the patient.Methods. This was a cross-sectional survey of both medical doctors and nurses with surgical skills. We used convenience sampling to selectrespondents from Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria and Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, Nigeria. A total of 99 respondents filled and returned a questionnaire. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20 was used to manage the data, and the results were presented using descriptive statistics.Results. Over one-third (34.3%) of the respondents reported that they would insist on seeing an HIV test result before performing a surgical or invasive procedure; meanwhile, 4 (4%) of the respondents had refused to render surgical or invasive intervention to HIV clients, while (3%) admitted having refused surgical procedures to patients who refused to take an HIV test. The majority of the respondents (79; 79.8%)reported that the basic equipment and consumables needed for universal precautions were either not available or grossly inadequate.Conclusion. Requests for patients to take an HIV test before surgical procedures are frequent; however, only a few respondents had ever refused to provide a surgical intervention on the basis of a patient's HIV-positive status. Equipment and consumables necessary for universal precautions were either not available or grossly inadequate in the surveyed hospitals