Assessing the Uptake of Services for Preventing Mother-to-child Transmission of HIV in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Introduction: Mother-to-child transmission of HIV remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children below five years of age in Nigeria.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the uptake of services for preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in Benin City.

Methods: A review of the National PMTCT registers was conducted across seven health facilities in Benin City that provide comprehensive services for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The period of review was from 1st January, 2010-31st December, 2010. A data form was used to collect data on the National PMTCT service indicators from the different registers at the sites.

Results: 13, 907 pregnant women registered for antenatal care across the seven sites during the period reviewed. Of these, the proportion of pregnant women counselled for HIV was 89.1%, the proportion of pregnant women who accepted HIV testing was 87.9% and the proportion of women, counselled, tested and who received results was 87.2%.

569 of the new antenatal care attendees (4.66%) tested positive for HIV. Of these, 520 (91.4%) received antiretroviral prophylaxis to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Three hundred and seventy-six babies were delivered by HIV positive women across the sites during the period reviewed. Of these, 367 (97.6%) were delivered alive and 339 (92.4%) received Nevirapine prophylaxis. Four of the seven sites had records of HIV testing for HIV-exposed infants. The records from these sites indicated 672 HIV-exposed infants were tested for HIV of which 46 (6.84%) tested positive for HIV using DNA polymerase chain reaction.

Conclusion: The uptake of most PMTCT services across the seven PMTCT sites in Benin City was above 80.0%. The uptake of partner counselling among partners of HIV positive women in this study was 15.1%. The rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in this study was 6.84%.