Abstract
BackgroundDisclosing HIV serostatus is important for HIV prevention and maintenance of health for people living with HIV their spouses and the community, it plays a role in the social relation which is critical in reducing HIV transmission. The process may have positive and negative effects to the HIV infected people who disclose their status. The present study was undertaken to describe HIV serostatus disclosure among HIV infected people attending care and treatment clinic at Sekou-Toure hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out on 270 HIV infected adults attending Care and Treatment Clinic (CTC) at Sekou-Toure hospital between September and October, 2010. A Swahili questionnaire was used to obtain demographic and HIV disclosure information.ResultsHundred and ninety five (72.5%) of all recruited participants were females, 88.1% (238/270) were aged above 30 years and 44.1% (119/270) were married. The prevalence of serostatus disclosure was 93.3% (252/270) with participants aged above 30 years having significantly higher proportion of serostatus disclosure compared to those aged below 30 years (94.5% vs. 84.4%, p < 0.05). Among the participants who disclosed their status, 69.3% reported closeness to the disclosed person as the reason for disclosure while 25.8% (65/252) disclosed because they needed help. Two hundred (79.4%) reported to have received emotional support following disclosure while 25.8% and 29.7% received financial support and freedom to use their anti-retroviral drugs around the person they disclosed their status respectively. Thirty four participants reported to have been discriminated following disclosure and 12 participants reported to have been divorced.ConclusionsRate of disclosure of HIV serostatus was noted to be high in this study. Delayed disclosure was also noted in small proportion of participants. Negative outcomes following disclosure of serostatus were reported by participants. Efforts need to be increased to promote disclosure of HIV serostatus in Tanzania through health education and awareness for both HIV infected individuals and the community.
Highlights
Disclosing HIV serostatus is important for HIV prevention and maintenance of health for people living with HIV their spouses and the community, it plays a role in the social relation which is critical in reducing HIV transmission
HIV/AIDS is still a major burden to the health system in Tanzania as it is for other Sub-Sahara African countries
Kiula et al in a study conducted in Morogoro, Tanzania reported that HIV-positive women with high level of education, younger and financially independent to be more likely to disclose their serostatus [4]
Summary
Disclosing HIV serostatus is important for HIV prevention and maintenance of health for people living with HIV their spouses and the community, it plays a role in the social relation which is critical in reducing HIV transmission. The process may have positive and negative effects to the HIV infected people who disclose their status. It is estimated that 1.4 million people are living with HIV in Tanzania [1] with females more affected as compared to their male counterparts. Disclosure of HIV status is an important approach pursued in voluntary testing and Studies conducted in Tanzania have reported age, level of education and financial independence for women to be important factors in predicting HIV serostatus disclosure. Kiula et al in a study conducted in Morogoro, Tanzania reported that HIV-positive women with high level of education, younger and financially independent to be more likely to disclose their serostatus [4]. Lugalla et al reported women to be less likely to reveal their status to their spouses as compared to men in a study which was conducted among clients attending
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