HIV Testing Among Pregnant Wives of Migrant Men in a Rural District of India: Urgent Call for Scale Up

Abstract

In India, despite the fact that more pregnant women are being tested for HIV under the purview of the Prevention of Parent-to-Child HIV Transmission program, official figures indicate low rates of HIV testing, evidencing missed opportunities for HIV prevention. The present study examined the prevalence of HIV testing and the barriers to testing among pregnant women, whose vulnerability to HIV is enhanced by their spouses’ risky behaviors. A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2010 to January 2011 among 357 women who had given birth in the last two years in a district in Orissa. Only one-third of women had been tested for HIV during pregnancy. Women with more than six years of education (OR: 2.39, 95% CI: 1.06–5.39), having knowledge of sexually transmitted infections (OR: 12.37, 95% CI: 5.55–27.58), having discussions with spouses about HIV (OR: 3.56, 95% CI: 1.61–7.86), and seeking antenatal care in government district hospitals and private clinics as opposed to peripheral community health centers, were more likely to receive HIV testing during pregnancy. The findings point to the need to widen HIV testing to community-based services, increase coverage of HIV/sexually transmitted infection awareness and prevention programs, and encourage spousal communication through quality counseling.

Keywords:

• HIV testing
• pregnant women
• HIV prevention
• mother to child transmission
• India