The Quality of PMTCT Services and Uptake of ARV Prophylaxis amongst HIV Positive Pregnant women in Kakamega District, Kenya

Abstract

The negative impact of the HIV epidemic on child health is most marked in sub-Saharan Africa, which carries 90% of paediatric infections. (UNAIDS, 2009). The goal of the Kenyan National Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) Program was to reduce the proportion of infants infected with HIV by 20% by 2005 and 50% by 2010. In order to achieve this, there is a need for universal coverage of services. Therefore, the success of a PMTCT programme depends on the ability to deliver the intervention to every eligible pregnant woman, enabling policies, administrative, and institutional frameworks, as well as socio-cultural factors. Uptake of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), one of the cornerstones of PMTCT, is affected by the quality of counselling, availability of trained health care workers to offer the services, and pharmacy support to the PMTCT program (MOH, 2009; Inoue et al, 1994). Periodic studies to determine factors affecting the uptake of PMCT are essential for successful implementation.