Bottlenecks and opportunities towards achieving the targeted 95-95-95 HIV services in a rural district in Eastern Uganda [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
F1000Research
Abstract
Background: Uganda has made progress in reducing its HIV
prevalence from 7.3% in 2011 to 6% in 2017, however, more needs to
be done to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) target of 95%
of the population knowing their HIV status, 95% enrolled on treatment
and 95% achieving viral suppression. This study aimed to assess the
bottlenecks and opportunities towards achieving the 95 95 95
targeted HIV services in the Bukedea district.
Methods: A mixed-methods cross-sectional study was conducted in
the Bukedea district covering males and females aged 18-65 years
who had consented to participate in the study. We used a purposive
sampling procedure to select our study participants. Qualitative data
was collected through focus group discussions, key informant
interviews, and document reviews for quantitative data. Quantitative
data were analyzed using STATA v 14 whereas qualitative data were
analyzed using the thematic analysis approach.
Results: The challenges were grouped as patient-related, medicationrelated,
and facility-related. The patient-related challenges were
stigma, fear of taking the medication, poor nutrition, long distances,
alcoholism, busy working schedules, and domestic violence. The
medication-related challenges were side effects and pill burden. The
facility-related challenges were inadequate pretest counseling and
stock-outs. The use of anti-retroviral drugs (ART) was common in
piggery and poultry and the sources of these drugs were reported to
be the people on ART and the health workers.
The opportunities included home-based counseling, organizing more outreaches, counseling and health education, targeted testing, and
strengthening the Village Health Teams (VHT) networks.
Conclusions: The study revealed that the major challenges towards
achieving the targeted 95-95-95 HIV services were stigma, inadequate
pre-test counseling, fear of disclosure, and poor adherence due to
alcoholism, sharing of drugs with animals and partners. The use of
anti-retroviral drugs in animal husbandry was common in the
Bukedea District.
Description
Keywords
Enrolment to care, HIV testing, Viral load suppression, HIV infection, HAART, Expert clients, HIV care, Adherence to HIV treatment
Citation
Namenkere, M. S., Stella, A. M., Linda, S., Juliet, K., Charles, M., Benina, C., ... & Iramiot, J. S. (2022). Bottlenecks and opportunities towards achieving the targeted 95-95-95 HIV services in a rural district in Eastern Uganda. F1000Research, 11(1553), 1553. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.122576.1