Knowledge and practices of women regarding prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hiv (pmtct) in rural south-west uganda
International Journal of Infectious Diseases
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / i j i d
Knowledge and practices of women regarding prevention of
Ethics statement: The study received ethical approval from the
mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in rural south-
Institutional Review Committee of Mbarara University of Science
Conflict of interest: No competing interests.
Worldwide, about 3.4 million children aged under 15 years are
HIV-infected, with 90% living in Sub-Saharan Africa;150 000 of
these children are in Uganda. Ninety-five percent of pediatric HIV
1. UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic 2010. Joint United Nations Pro-
in Sub-Saharan Africa results from mother-to-child transmission
(MTCT) during pregnancy, labor, or with breastfeeding. Prevention
measures (PMTCT) can reduce the risk of MTCT,but only if women
2. Guay LA, Musoke P, Fleming T, Bagenda D, Allen M, Nakabiito C, et al. Intrapartum
and neonatal single-dose nevirapine compared with zidovudine for prevention
have this Currently, in rural south-west Uganda,
of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 in Kampala, Uganda: HIVNET 012
information on MTCT and PMTCT is provided to women by local
randomised trial. Lancet 1999;354:795–802.
health workers including volunteer village health teams.This
3. Chopra M, Rollins N. Infant feeding in the time of HIV: rapid assessment of
infant feeding policy and programmes in four African countries scaling up
study explored the knowledge and practices of women in rural
prevention of mother to child transmission programmes. Arch Dis Child
south-west Uganda regarding MTCT and PMTCT to determine if
4. Falnes EF, Tylleska¨r T, de Paoli MM, Manongi R, Engebretsen IM. Mothers’
knowledge and utilization of prevention of mother to child transmission services
We conducted an exploratory descriptive study among women of
in northern Tanzania. J Int AIDS Soc 2010;13:36.
child-bearing age (15–49 years) from Mwizi, a rural sub-county in
5. Barigye H, Levin J, Maher D, Tindiwegi G, Atuhumuza E, Nakibinge S, et al.
Mbarara district in south-west Uganda, in July and August 2011. A
Operational evaluation of a service for prevention of mother-to-child transmis-
semi-structured oral questionnaire was administered to 100 women
sion of HIV in rural Uganda: barriers to uptake of single-dose nevirapine and the
role of birth reporting. Trop Med Int Health 2010;15:1163–71.
randomly sampled from the five sub-county parishes; 10 women per
6. Mbonye AK, Hansen KS, Wamono F, Magnussen P. Barriers to prevention of
mother-to-child transmission of HIV services in Uganda. J Biosoc Sci
Of the 100 women approached, all participated; 88% were aged
7. Brenner JL, Kabakyenga J, Kyomuhangi T, Wotton KA, Pim C, Ntaro M, et al.
between 15 and 25 years, 88% had a primary education, 84% were
Can volunteer community health workers decrease child morbidity and
peasant farmers, 88% were married, and 91% had been pregnant or
mortality in southwestern Uganda? An impact evaluation.
were pregnant at the time of the study. Ninety-one percent knew that
8. Mitchell KJ, Bull S, Kiwanuka J, Ybarra ML. Cell phone usage among adolescents in
MTCT occurs; 72% were aware of PMTCT. Only 7% had adequate
Uganda: acceptability for relaying health information. Health Educ Res
knowledge about MTCT and the needed prevention steps. While 82%
knew MTCT can occur during labor and delivery, only 54% knew
9. Birks LK, Powell CD, Thomas AD, Medard E, Roggeveen Y, Hatfield JM. Promoting
health, preserving culture: adapting RARE in the Maasai context of northern
breastfeeding was a risk and only 23% knew HIV could be transmitted
Tanzania. AIDS Care 2011;23:585–92.
during pregnancy. Sixty-eight percent knew that delivery at a health
facility could reduce the risk because additional preventative
measures would be taken. Seventy percent recalled hearing messages
about MTCT and PMTCT from a health worker, their major source of
PMTCT information. Several women had practiced PMTCT interven-
tions themselves or had advised their friends.
In conclusion, most women of child-bearing age in Mwizi
sub-county of Uganda lacked adequate knowledge to prevent
MTCT despite high awareness of MTCT and the need for PMTCT.
For PMTCT knowledge to trickle down to rural women,
messaging from village health workers, the major source of
information, needs to be reinforced. More training on techniques
to reinforce PMTCT messages is needed. Other forms of
messaging, i.e., radio and cell phone messages, village meeting
discussions, and social gatherings might reinforce prevention
aDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Mbarara
University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
cDepartment of Radiology, Mbarara University
of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
The study was supported by a MicroResearch grant (
dDepartment of General Surgery, Mbarara University
of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
1201-9712/$36.00 – see front matter ß 2012 International Society for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: Atwiine BR, et al. Knowledge and practices of women regarding prevention of mother-to-child
transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in rural south-west Uganda. Int J Infect Dis (2012),
Letter to the Editor / International Journal of Infectious Diseases xxx (2012) xxx.e1–xxx.e2
jDepartment of Paediatrics, Dalhousie University,
Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
fDepartment of Nursing, Mbarara University of Science and
Corresponding Editor: William Cameron, Ottawa, Canada
gLocal African MicroResearch Mentor, Mbarara University of Science
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 902 470 8799;
hDepartment of Medicine, Dalhousie University,
iCanadian MicroResearch Mentor (Dalhousie University, Halifax,
Canada; Canadian Paediatrics Society, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada;
Canadian Child Health Clinician Science Program,
Please cite this article in press as: Atwiine BR, et al. Knowledge and practices of women regarding prevention of mother-to-child
transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in rural south-west Uganda. Int J Infect Dis (2012),
Knowledge and practices of women regarding prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in rural south-west U.
Paroxysmale nächtliche Hämoglobinurie (PNH) Pathogenese, Diagnostik und Therapie A. Röth, U. Dührsen, H. Schrezenmeier, J. Schubert Literatur 1 Dacie JV, Lewis SM. Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria: clinical manifestations, haematology, and nature of the disease. Ser Haematol 1972; 5: 3–23 2 Fachinformation Soliris® 2007 Frickhofen N, Heimpel H, Kaltwasser JP, Schrezenme
International Journal of Infectious Diseases
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / i j i d
Knowledge and practices of women regarding prevention of
Ethics statement: The study received ethical approval from the
mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in rural south-
Institutional Review Committee of Mbarara University of Science
Conflict of interest: No competing interests.
Letter to the Editor / International Journal of Infectious Diseases xxx (2012) xxx.e1–xxx.e2
jDepartment of Paediatrics, Dalhousie University,
Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
fDepartment of Nursing, Mbarara University of Science and
Corresponding Editor: William Cameron, Ottawa, Canada
gLocal African MicroResearch Mentor, Mbarara University of Science
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 902 470 8799;
hDepartment of Medicine, Dalhousie University,
iCanadian MicroResearch Mentor (Dalhousie University, Halifax,
Canada; Canadian Paediatrics Society, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada;
Canadian Child Health Clinician Science Program,
Please cite this article in press as: Atwiine BR, et al. Knowledge and practices of women regarding prevention of mother-to-child
transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in rural south-west Uganda. Int J Infect Dis (2012),