ASSESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF COUNSELLING AS A COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE INPREVENTION OF MOTHER TO CHILD TRANSMISSION OF HIVIN TWO SELECTED HOSPITALS IN KADUNA

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Department of Arts

ABSTRACT
HIV/AIDS has remained a major threat to population health in developing countries and Nigeria in particular. The 2013 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) says though mortality rates differ by zones, the under-five mortality rate for the ten-year period before the survey ranges from 185 deaths per 1,000 live births in North West Zone to 90 per 1,000 live births in South West Zone. Children living in rural areas are also more likely to die young than children in urban areas, with under-five mortality at 167 per 1,000 live births in rural areas, compared with 100 per 1,000 live births in urban areas. This mortality is associated with poor women education, low access neonatal health services, HIV infection and other factors. HIV infection having been identified as one of the causes of child mortality and a major health concern needs to be tackled. Government and non-governmental agencies have used various strategies to halt the rate of infection and eventual death especially in children. An integral part of the strategies employed is the prevention of mother to child transmission programmes which counselling is incorporated into. This research assessed the importance of counselling as a communication technique in prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV and took a holistic look at the process of counselling in two selected hospitals and how it has helped in combating MTCT. This research was conducted on 29 hospital staff of two hospitals with 19 from Saint Gerard‘s Catholic Hospital Kaduna in the Heart to Heart centres and 10 staff from Yusuf Dantsoho hospital Kaduna with an average patients of 439 assisted by a Non-governmental organisation Caritas Foundation of Nigeria and Centre for Integrated Health Programmes (CIHP) for Saint Gerard‘s and Yusuf Dantsoho Hospital respectively.Qualitative and quantitative mode of data collection was used in analysing the study and the research found out that majority of the patients were aware of their HIV status after counselling and counselling has been beneficial. That counselling helps to reduce stigma and discrimination. That HIV positive mothers have given birth to negative children due to their adherence to counselling services and that there has been an improvement in the health status of HIV positive mothers and their children. In view of this research that was carried out in the two hospitals, there is the need to enhance the level of awareness with specific communication strategies; that being HIV positive is not a death sentence.