Abstract
Men's role in HIV prevention is pivotal to changing the course of the epidemic. Men's barriers toward participation in Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) have not been adequately documented. This study is therefore designed to determine men's level of awareness and barriers to their participation in PMTCT programmes in Osogbo, Nigeria. This study was a descriptive qualitative one that utilized Focus Group Discussion (FGD). One-hundred and sixty married men were selected by convenience sampling and interviewed. Data collected were analysed using content analysis technique. Demographic data were analysed using SPSS 15.0 software to generate frequency tables. Participants mean age was 31.9 ± 5.9 years. Many of the participants had heard about PMTCT and the majority agreed that it is good to accompany their wife to Antenatal Care (ANC) but only few had ever done so. Societal norms and cultural barriers were the leading identified barriers for male involvement in PMTCT programmes. The majority of the participant perceived it was a good idea to accompany their wife to antenatal care but putting this into practice was a problem due to societal norms and cultural barriers. Community sensitization programmes such as health education aimed at breaking cultural barriers should be instituted by government and nongovernmental agencies.
Highlights
An estimated 35.3 (32.2–38.8) million people were living with HIV in 2012 [1]
According to the latest Demographic and Health Survey, only 28 percent of women and 39 percent of men know that the risk of an HIV-positive pregnant woman transmitting the HIV virus to her unborn child can be reduced by taking certain drugs during pregnancy [5]
A total of one-hundred and sixty married men participated in the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and they were between 23 and 59 years with a mean age of 31.9 ± 5.9 years
Summary
An estimated 35.3 (32.2–38.8) million people were living with HIV in 2012 [1]. The annual number of newly infected children in 2012 was 260 000 (230 000–320 000) in low- and middle-income countries, 35% lower than in 2009 [1]. Most of these children acquired HIV through Mother-to-Child Transmission (MTCT) and ninety per cent of them live in sub-Saharan Africa [2]. These figures indicate the magnitude of the problem, and the fact that pediatric HIV infections are numerous and worrisome [3]. In resource-limited settings, male partner involvement in antenatal HCT has been shown to increase uptake of interventions to reduce the risk of HIV transmission [7]
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