Missed opportunities of poor implementation of prevention with positives among HIV-positive women on treatment in Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: The current prevalence of HIV particularly in Nigeria does not reflect global efforts at curtailing the pandemic. One of the drivers increasing the rate of a new infection is the transmission of HIV by people already living with the virus. Scaling up prevention interventions and strategies will reverse this unwarranted trend. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out among women living with HIV (WLHIV) receiving care at the Adult Antiretroviral Clinic (ART) of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti between February and April 2021. Results: One hundred and forty-eight eligible WLHIV participated and completed the study. The majority of the participants were married (74.3%), in a monogamous family setting (68.9%), within the reproductive age group (91.8%), and were Christians (75.7%). Only 5.4% earned all the components of prevention interventions and strategies for people living with HIV (PwP) leaving a wide gap of 94.6% missed opportunities. Conclusion: The findings that WLHIV in this study are well literate about HIV risk transmission and prevention strategies and are adherent to their HAART medications did not translate to the adequate observance of prevention interventions and strategies. Scaling up prevention with positive programs (PwP) is urgently needed to prevent the further surge in the rate of new infections.