Abstract
<i>Objective: </i>HIV prevalence data from pregnant women who attended Antenatal Care Clinic over a five year period were used in the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV programmes and remain useful for Prevention, Care, Treatment and Support of pregnant women and ensuring that the goal of zero transmission is met. It also helped policy makers to take appropriate action in HIV/AIDS programmes. <i>Methodology: </i>A descriptive study of pregnant women presenting for the first time at the antenatal clinic of Faith Alive Foundation and Hospital, Jos from 1<sup>st</sup> January 2010 to 31<sup>st</sup> December 2014 was carried out. Information regarding age, gestational age at booking, parity and HIV sero status of the clients were analyzed. Screening test was carried out in a serial two step approach using determine and UNIGOLD as the confirmatory test while stat pack was the tie-breaker with discordant result. Positive samples were confirmed by western blot method. <i>Result: </i>A total of 1720 pregnant women were registered in the antenatal unit of Faith Alive Foundation and Hospital, Jos from 1st January 2010 to 31<sup>st</sup> December 2014. 120 were sero positive. The overall HIV prevalence rate was 6.9%. High prevalence rate were observed in those aged 20-39 years. There was a decline in HIV prevalence from 10.7% in 2010 to 6.8% in 2013 and 5.8% in 2014. Majority of the sero positive women booked early in pregnancy, within the 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> trimesters from 77.8% in 2010 to 80% in 2014. <i>Conclusion: </i>A decline in HIV prevalence was observed during the five year period. The study also revealed that significant number of HIV positive antenatal women registered for antenatal care early. The overall HIV sero prevalence is still high. There is need to astronomically scale up our intervention approach against HIV infection.
Highlights
The burden of mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT) of HIV is much higher in sub-Saharan Africa due to higher level of heterosexual transmission, high male: female ratio, high total fertility rate and high levels of breastfeeding [1]
A descriptive study was done amongst the patients who booked for antenatal clinic in Faith Alive Foundation and clinic between 1st January 2010 to 31st December 2014
A total of 1720 women registered for antenatal clinic over the period and total of 120 were sero positive giving a prevalence rate of 6.98%
Summary
The burden of mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT) of HIV is much higher in sub-Saharan Africa due to higher level of heterosexual transmission, high male: female ratio, high total fertility rate and high levels of breastfeeding [1]. Nigeria has the largest burden in the West Africa sub-region with about 2.98 million people living with HIV [2]. European Journal of Preventive Medicine 2016; 4(3): 61-64 population [4] This portends negative impact on our economic development due to deterioration in child survival rates, decreasing life expectancy, increasing numbers of orphans and strain on the weak health system [1, 4]. The high prevalence of HIV among pregnant women, high total fertility rate, culture of prolonged breast feeding/mixed feeding, non-use of modern health facilities for antenatal and delivery purpose have contributed to the high rate of MTCT in the country [5]. FAF was established in 1996 to meet the holistic health and social services needs of the less privileged including Persons Living Positively at no cost to them
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