Prevention of mother to child transmission of human immune virus infection and its determinants among women in selected health centres in Zomba.

Abstract

Good health is a human right that is recognised in different international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One public health challenge that has affected human health and has implications on development is Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Mother to child transmission is still prevalent among women and remains the most common cause of paediatric HIV infection in Malawi. This study assesses the level of knowledge, attitude and practice, as well as determinants of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV infection among women in selected health centres in Zomba district.The study employed mixed methods research design. Stratified sampling technique was used to sample 250 respondents to participate in the quantitative survey in the selected health centres. Qualitative interviews and focus group discussions complemented quantitative data. Descriptive statistics, test, analysis of variance and thematic analysis were used to analyse data. The study results reveal that women have 59.19% (with the mean score of 9.47 out of 16) knowledge towards prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission. Overall, women hold positive attitudes toward the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) in the visited health centres, as indicated by an overall mean score of 3.76 (S.D.=1.28). The study also revealed that majority of the women (87.19%) are observing PMTCT practices to protect their babies. Depression, fear of husbands, negligence, income status, and education level are some of the factors associated with the adherence of PMTCT practices in the surveyed health centres. The study is informing government and other stakeholders to develop strategies to respond to knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant women in preventing mother to child HIV transmission.