Making it happen : prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in rural Malawi

Abstract: The devastating consequences of HIV/AIDS have caused untold harm and human suffering globally. Over 33 million people worldwide are estimated to be living with HIV and AIDS and a majority of these are in sub-Saharan Africa. Women and children are more infected particularly in sub-Saharan countries. Globally, an estimated number of 370 000 children were newly infected in 2007, mainly through mother to child transmission (MTCT). Implementation of prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programmes has been introduced in many sub-Saharan countries during the last years. Operational research was conducted to study the demand and adherence of key components within a PMTCT Programme among women in rural Malawi. This study was carried out at Malamulo SDA Hospital in rural Malawi and employed a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data sources included antenatal care (ANC), PMTCT and delivery registers, structured questionnaires, in-depth interviews with HIV positive women in the programme and focus group discussions with community members, health care workers and traditional birth attendants. Over the three year period of the study (January 2005 to December 2007), three interventions were introduced in the antenatal care (ANC) at the hospital at different times. These were HIV testing integrated in the ANC clinic in March 2005, opt-out testing in January 2006 and free maternal services in October 2006. A steady increase of the service uptake as interventions were being introduced was observed over time. HIV testing was generally accepted by the community and women within the programme. However, positive HIV tests among pregnant women were also experienced to cause conflicts and fear within the family. Although hospital deliveries were recognised to be safe and clean, home deliveries were common. Lack of transport, spouse support and negative attitudes among staff were some of the underlying factors. Further study on the quality of care offered in the presence of increased service uptake is required. Community sensitisation on free maternal care and male involvement should be strengthened to enable full utilisation of services. Additionally, service providers at facility and community levels, policy makers at all levels and the communities should see themselves as co-workers in development to reduce preventable maternal and infant mortality including MTCT of HIV.