Study on Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV
Sierra Leone has made remarkable progress in increasing access to antenatal care (ANC) and PMTCT services, especially since the introduction of the Free Health Care Initiative by His Excellency President Ernest Bai Koroma in 2010. Despite the gains, the country has not attained universal ANC and PMTCT coverage. Supported by the National AIDS Control Programme within the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, FOCUS 1000 conducted a national study to:
- Determine the availability and accessibility of ANC and PMTCT services
- Assess mothers’ and male partners’ awareness, knowledge and attitudes (vis-à-vis quality and adequacy) of ANC and PMTCT services in the health facilities
- Identify bottlenecks and facilitating factors for service delivery
- The assessment spanned across 40 health facilities (17 from urban areas and 23 from rural areas), with a sample of 400 pregnant/lactating women and 386 men/partners.
The findings of the study are now informing NACP’s initiatives to enhance the utilization and quality of ANC and PMTCT services.