To tell or not to tell: Dimensions of disclosure to children with HIV in the Zambezi region of Northern Namibia

ABSTRACT

The survival rates of prenatally HIV-infected children in Africa have significantly improved with the advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Few studies examined the HIV status disclosure of children and the sociodemographics of their caregivers in Northern Namibia. This was a cross-sectional exploratory study with a sample of 83 caregiver-child dyads of HIV-affected children ages 6–18 in Namibia. The mean age of caregivers was 37.1 [range 15–93, SD = 11.9], and the majority were female (87.5%). More than half of the HIV-infected children (55.7%) were between 6–10 years of age at the time of the study. More than two thirds of children (67.1%) had their HIV diagnosis disclosed to them. Some caregivers believed it was very important (42.2%) or good (39.8%) to disclose the HIV status to children, and just a few (3.6%) mentioned it was not important at all. More research is warranted to describe HIV-infected children accessing ART and their caregivers to better inform HIV/AIDS interventions and policies.

KEYWORDS:

• Antiretroviral therapy (ART)
• caregivers
• children
• disclosure
• HIV/AIDS
• Namibia