Prevalence of, and factors associated with, HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discriminatory attitudes in Botswana.

Botswana has the highest prevalence of HIV in the world. The epidemic of HIV/AIDS is often accompanied by stigma and discrimination that create the circumstances for spreading HIV. To facilitate the design of effective programmes to fight the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discriminatory attitudes, this study examined survey data on the prevalence of, and factors associated with, such attitudes in Botswana. While most respondents showed discriminatory attitudes towards a teacher or a shopkeeper with HIV/AIDS, only 11% of 4,147 respondents reported unwillingness to care for a family member with HIV/AIDS. The more tolerant attitudes towards a family member with HIV/AIDS appeared to be promoted by the fact that family members have been and continue to care for their sick members through a government project called Community Home-based Care aimed at relieving public hospitals of HIV/AIDS patients. Since the burden of caring for sick relatives rests on the shoulders of women, they portrayed more tolerant attitudes towards HIV/AIDS patients. Young people and those who believed a person could get HIV infection by sharing a meal with an HIV/AIDS patient had discriminatory attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS. The national information, education and communication programme needs to be strengthened to reach more people for HIV/AIDS education. Finally, programmes that aim to promote more tolerant attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS may be more effective if the human rights of those with HIV/AIDS are promoted and respected.

Factors associated with non-use of maternal health services in Botswana.

The study investigated individual and household factors associated with non-use of maternal health services in Botswana. Nationally-representative data, drawn from the 1996 Botswana Family Health Survey, were used. A weighted sample of 19,031 women, aged 15-49 years, who had at least one pregnancy history in the five years prior to the survey was considered for analysis. Both simple cross-tabulations and logistic regression were used for analyzing the data. Consistently, the teenagers were less likely to seek prenatal care, to have their babies delivered by a qualified person, and to seek postnatal check-up. Using results from logistic regression analysis, it can be observed that low-parity women were less likely to use maternal services. Another consistent finding is that women with low educational level, those residing in rural areas, and those with low socioeconomic status were less likely to use maternal services. More focussed investigation is needed, but understanding the differentials of the use of maternal services allows policy-makers to identify problem areas that need attention.