Assessment of stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with HIV and AIDS receiving care/treatment in University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Nigeria.

The research was designed to assess the stigma and discrimination faced by People living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) that are receiving treatment in UITH, Ilorin. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted on three hundred (300) people living with HIV and AIDS receiving care at the antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinics within University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (which was the only ART site in Kwara State as at then). A quantitative method through the use of interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collection. This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study design. All the patients who came to the clinic and met the selection criteria were recruited until the desired sample size was reached. Data were analyzed by EPI-INFO 2005 software package. The mean age of the respondents was 39 years (SD = 9.32), and their age ranged between 19 and 65 years. About two thirds (64.7%) of the respondents were females, 62.7% were married, and 62.9% were from monogamous family settings. Slightly less than half (47.3%) of the respondents were not informed before they were tested for HIV, majority (63.3%) were not counseled before the test, but only 11% did not receive posttest counseling. One quarter of the respondents had experienced stigmatization/discrimination. Various forms of stigmatization/discrimination experienced by the respondents include blame for being responsible for their HIV status, various name callings, telling them that they are no more useful to anybody, violation of confidentiality, social isolation, restriction of their participation in family/religious activities, rejection by their spouses/families, dismissal from place of work, isolating them from other patients, and denying them care at health centers. It is therefore recommended that government at all levels should develop and implement programs to educate health care providers about HIV and AIDS, ethics, and treatment and care; educate the general population on HIV and AIDS, put in place policies that will reduce/stop HIV-related stigma and discrimination at all levels of the society, educate PLWHA on their right to live and work without discrimination, and also ensure full community participation in HIV control programs.

Knowledge and practice of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) against HIV infection among health care providers in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge and practice of post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) against HIV infection among health care providers in University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey conducted on 230 health care providers in UATH. RESULTS: Majority (97.0%) of the respondents have heard about PEP, but only a few (30.9%) of them could correctly identify the drugs used and duration of PEP. A third of respondents have had one form of accidental exposure or the other. HIV test was carried out in about two-thirds (64.8%) of the source patients. Thirteen (28.3%) of the source patients were HIV-positive. Of the 13 respondents that were exposed to HIV-positive patients, only 3 (23.1%) received PEP, and these three completed PEP, while majority, 10/13 (76.9%) did not receive PEP in spite of their exposure to HIV-positive sources. CONCLUSION: The study shows that the knowledge and practice of PEP among health care providers are very poor.

Knowledge and attitudes of secondary school students in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria towards sickle cell disease.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted among Secondary School Students in Federal Capital Territory (FCT),Abuja Nigeria, between May and June 2010 to determine the knowledge and attitudes of the students towards Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional study carried out on 600 students from 8 secondary schools located within (FCT). A multistage sampling method was used for selection of the study population. Data was collected with the aid of a pretested self-administered questionnaire and analyzed with EPI-INFO 2008. RESULTS: The age of respondents ranged from 9 to 26 years with the mean age of 15.16 (SD = 2.13). The modal age of the respondents was 10-19 years (97.8%). The male: female ratio was 1.01:1. A large number of respondents' fathers (80.7%) and mothers (70.2%) respectively, had at least secondary school education. Majority (81.8%) of the respondents claimed to have heard about sickle cell disease (SCD) but only 38.0% of them knew the cause of SCD. Slightly less than half, 292 (48.7%) of the respondents knew their genotype. Of the 292 respondents that knew their genotype, 206 (70.5%) were AA, 50 (17.1%) were AS,14 (4.8%), SS, 11 (3.8%)AC, 5 (1.7%) SC, 4 (1.4%) CC, 2 (0.7%) other types of genotype. Only 46.2% and 36.8% of them respectively, correctly identified that pre-marital genotype testing and avoidance of marriage between two persons with haemoglobin S genotype as means of preventing further spread of SCD. Factors found to be significantly associated with the knowledge of respondents' genotype were; age = 15 years, respondents' mothers' educational status, being taught about SCD in school, ever seeing somebody suffering from SCD complication, losing a relative to SCD, being in senior secondary school class and knowing the cause of SCD. CONCLUSION: This study shows that majority of the respondents did not know their genotype ,and their knowledge about the cause and prevention of SCD was poor.