Factors Influencing Male Involvement in the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV: The Missing Component in Test and Start in Kumba Health District

Abstract

Prevention of Mother to child Transmission (PMTCT) programs has been proven to be effective in reducing the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child. Men participation in PMTCT programs is likely to increase women’s uptake of PMTCT services. Unfortunately, men involvement in this intervention has been very minimal. Thus, identifying the factors that influences male involvement in the PMTCT programs is imperative. The study was a hospital and community base quantitative cross-sectional survey of 200 pregnant women attending antenatal clinic ANC/PMTCT clinic and 200 men in the Kumba Health District community using structured questionnaire. Ethical clearance was obtained from Faculty of health sciences University of Buea. Each health area in the district represented a stratum. Women were sampled at the clinics and men in the community. Written consent was obtained from all participants. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 26 at 95% confident interval and P<0.05 for statistical significance. Result. 52(13%) of male respondents had attended PMTCT services in the district with their partners which is far below the 80% standard set by the ministry of Public Health of Cameroon. Of the 200 male respondents 94(47%) had heard about PMTCT programs (p=0.001). Knowledge on HIV transmission through breast feeding (P=0.001) were highly significant, likewise level of education (P=0.003) and employment of participants (P=0.001). Despite the successful implementation of the Test and START in Kumba Health District, eliminating MTCT of HIV remains a major challenge. Keywords. ANC, ARV, HIV, Male Involvement, MTCT, PMTCT.