Integrating family planning into Ethiopian voluntary testing and counselling programmes

Abstract

Problem Governments and donors encourage the integration of family planning into voluntary testing and counselling (VCT) services. We aimed to determine if clients of VCT services have a need for and will accept quality family planning services. Approach "Voluntary HIV counselling and testing integrated with contraceptive services" is a proof-of-concept study that interviewed 4019 VCT clients before the addition of family planning services and 4027 different clients after family planning services were introduced. Clients attended eight public VCT facilities in the Oromia region, Ethiopia. The intervention had four components: development of family planning counselling messages for VCT clients, VCT provider training, contraceptive supply provision and monitoring. Local setting Ethiopia's population of 80 million is increasing rapidly at an annual rate of 2.5%. Contraceptive prevalence is only 15%. The estimated adult HIV prevalence rate is 2.1%, with more than 1.1 million people infected. The number of VCT facilities increased from 23 in 2001 to more than 1000 in 2007, and the number of HIV tests taken doubled from 1.7 million tests in 2007 to 3.5 million in 2008. Relevant changes Clients interviewed after the introduction of family planning services received significantly more family planning counselling and accepted significantly more contraceptives than those clients served before the intervention. However, three-quarters of the clients were not sexually active. Of those clients who were sexually active, 70% were using contraceptives. Lessons learned The study demonstrated that family planning can be integrated into VCT clinics. However, policy-makers and programme managers should carefully consider the characteristics and reproductive health needs of target populations when making decisions about service integration.Une traduction en français de ce résumé figure à la fin de l'article. Al final del artículo se facilita una traducción al español. ‫املقالة.‬ ‫لهذه‬ ‫الكامل‬ ‫النص‬ ‫نهاية‬ ‫يف‬ ‫الخالصة‬ ‫لهذه‬ ‫العربية‬ ‫الرتجمة‬

Influence of Culture on Contraceptive Utilization Among HIV-Positive Women in Brazil, Kenya, and South Africa

“…Further, the quantitative nature of the FL allows for data to be compared across sites to gain insight on the cultural variability present. Nascent efforts are underway to better integrate contraceptive provision with HIV services [6,7]. The purpose of this multisite study is to describe the relative importance of HIV infection and culture regarding contraceptive choice, utilization, and discontinuation among HIV-positive women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Kericho, Kenya; and Soweto, South Africa.…”

Willingness of Clinicians to Integrate Microbicides into HIV Prevention Practices in Southern Africa

“…Family planning training was a salient factor in microbicides knowledge and support, suggesting that education on microbicides and female-initiated prevention methods in the context of family planning training is a critical clinician training strategy. The integration of family planning and HIV prevention services can have many benefits in low-resource settings [22]. Results showed HIV training is also an important venue for vulnerable women, such as those in domestic violence situations and adolescents.…”

HIV diagnosis and sexual risk behavior intentions among couple VCT clients in Ethiopia

“…Data come from the Ethiopia Voluntary Counseling and Testing Integrated with Contraceptive Services (VICS) study, which assessed the impact of offering family planning services during VCT (Gillespie, Bradley, Woldegiorgis, Kidanu, & Karklins, 2009). Data were collected from individual and couple-based VCT clients at eight public sector health facilities in Oromia region, Ethiopia, in two cross-sectional waves.…”