Abstract:
The prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is paramount in safeguarding the lives
of unborn children and young babies. The study sought to examine the knowledge
and attitudes of expectant mothers towards HIV screening and testing
in the Jachie-Pramso Community of the Ashanti Region. Methods: The study
adopted a descriptive survey approach as its research design. The population
of the study comprised 158 expectant mothers who were registered and attended
regular antenatal care sessions at the community hospital. The census approach
to sampling was adopted for the study. A structured questionnaire was used
as the tool for data collection. Chi-square and descriptive statistics were used
to analyse the data. Results: The findings from the study indicated that awareness
level of HIV and its related issues were high among expectant mothers. It
was also found that attitude of healthcare workers, community members and
sexual partners are the main factors that prevent expectant mothers from patronising
voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services. It was generally,
recommended that intensive educational programmes be instituted to sensitize
both healthcare workers and the general public on discriminative behaviours.
Conclusion: Most of the expectant mothers have knowledge of HIV and attitudes
of the expectant mothers towards VCT of HIV were positive. The healthcare
facility and its professionals may consider training the expectant mothers
so they can act as snow-ballers in the dissemination of relevant health education
and coerce other expectant mothers in the community to participate in
the VCT and HIV programmes.
