ATTITUDES TO PRENATAL TESTING AND NOTIFICATION FOR HIV-INFECTION IN NAIROBI, KENYA

Four hundred antenatal clinic attendants were surveyed for their attit ude to testing and notification for HIV infection test results. The pa rticipants were systematically sampled from the antenatal clinic at th e Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi and interviewed using a closed-e nded structured questionnaire. All the attendants had heard of HIV, an d only 5(1.3%) did not know how Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AI DS) presents. Fifty one percent of them had no objection to their bloo d being tested for HIV. In fact, 52.5% thought, wrongly, that blood wa s routinely tested for HIV at the hospital's antenatal clinic. More th an one third (35.8%) of respondents wished their permission to be obta ined before the testing and 95% wished to be informed of the test resu lt. Acceptability of testing was 33.8%, for Named Voluntary Testing, 6 2.0% for Universal Testing and 1.0% for anonymous Testing. All the wom en said they would want to use a method of contraception, principally tubal ligation, if found HIV seropositive and 63.7% would seek a termi nation of pregnancy. In this study population, acceptability and expre ssed willingness to know HIV test results and willingness to let a spo use/sexual partner know the result was high. This paper makes recommen dations that HIV testing be made available at the ANC, together with c ompetent pre and post-test counselling.