Browsing by Author "Chitanje, Olivetta"

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    Association between pregnancy progression and HIV acquisition among the reproductive age group at Machinga District Hospital
    (Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, 2020-06-05) Kang'oma, Melina; Kaonga, Clevereen; Chitanje, Olivetta
    Pregnancy is a crucial period in planning for interventions against HIV [1], since it is associated with many behavioral and physiological changes. These changes are associated with an increased risk of HIV acquisition [2]. One of the interventions put in place is the PMTCT programme, which has 4 pronged strategies that targets both HIV negative and positive women. The prongs include; primary prevention of HIV in women of child bearing age, prevention of unintended pregnancies among HIV positive women, prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child and provision of continuous care and treatment for infected mothers, partners and their children. This study aims at measuring the association between progression of pregnancy and HIV acquisition among women of the reproductive age group in Machinga. The first specific objective is to measure the incidence of HIV among pregnant women during their second Ante natal care clinic visit. This is in accordance with one of the prongs that targets primary prevention of HIV among women of reproductive age and the prevention of HIV transmission from HIV positive mothers to their unborn child. Analyzing the trend in HIV incidence among pregnant women according to their characteristics is the second specific objective. These characteristics will include marital status, age, occupation or their spouse occupation and trimester period. This will help in finding the characteristics associated with an increased rate of seroconversion. The last specific objective will involve finding out the risk factors for HIV acquisition as pregnancy progresses from both male and female perspective. This will both help to know if the community thinks pregnancy can really increase the chances of seroconverting and to know the exact area to be targeted for interventions in reducing the HIV incidence. The research will involve a mixed study design. The incidence of HIV will be measured among women who attended at least two ANC visits and were HIV negative on their first ANC visit. This will use a retrospective cohort study which will involve secondary data analysis for the past 5 years (from 2015-2020). The study will describe people’s knowledge on the risk factors of acquisition of HIV during pregnancy using in-depth interviews with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 30 participants depending on the saturation point. The expected outcome is, there is an increased chance of acquiring HIV as the pregnancy progresses. A copy of the research results will be presented to the board of supervisors from the University of Malawi-College of Medicine and the District health office of Machinga.