Investigation of risky sexual behaviour amongst HIV/AIDS positive individuals on antiretroviral treatment in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Pere, Mzukisi Ernest
- Date: 2022-07
- Subjects: HIV-positive persons , Sexually transmitted diseases , AIDS (Disease) -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27198 , vital:66395
- Description: Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is one of the major public health concerns. Antiretroviral treatments (ART) is available immediately for HIV-positive individuals but sexually transmitted infections are on the rise. The majority of HIV positive patients on ART are engaging in unsafe sexual practices. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate risky sexual behaviour of people on antiretroviral treatment regarding prevention. The study was conducted on adult clients in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Methods: A quantitative and descriptive cross-sectional design was conducted whereby 304 patients who visited Nontyatyambo Health Centre were randomly selected. Data was entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 24. Simple descriptive statistics such as numbers, percentages and tables were used to characterise variables. A chi-square test was used to explore associations between dependent and independent variables. Test significance, confidence intervals and p-values of all the causes and contributory factors were set at 0.05. Results: Thirty two percent reported having sex with multiple sexual partners while 19percent reported never using a condom. Forty eight percent reported having had sexually transmitted infections since starting on ART. The median age (36 years (IQR: 31, 45) vs. 35 years (IQR: 26, 40)) of those who reported STIs was higher than the median age of those who did not report STI (p=0.012). Males (57percent, p=0.049), those who were employed (55percent, p=0.048), and those who were cohabitating (68percent, 0.030) were more likely to report STI. Similarly, those who had unprotected sex with a casual partner (62percent, p<0.001), and those who did not use a condom because a partner did not like it (71percent, p=0.001) were more likely to report STIs. A significant number of 32percent of the participants reported engaging in risky sexual practices while 48percent had reported an STI. Recommendations include educational outreach programmes and capacitation of health care workers with appropriate skills and tools. , Thesis (MPH) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 2022
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Assessment of the integrated HIV/AIDS curriculum at a university in the Eastern Cape: views of students and educators
- Authors: Terblanche, Delcia Jill Nora
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching , AIDS (Disease) -- Prevention , Universities and colleges
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCur
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/12359 , vital:39256
- Description: Background: HIV/AIDS is a major global public health problem. The higher education sector too, is affected by the scourge of HIV/AIDS. Universities are considered to be high- risks areas for HIV infection because many students indulged in high risky behaviour link to HIV infection; therefore developing ways to prevent students for acquiring HIV and as well reducing HIV prevalence rates through training and teaching about HIV/AIDS will contribute to change in behaviour of students. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the majority of the students at Fort Hare lack the general awareness and education in HIV/AIDS due to lack of information coupled with their general disadvantaged background with the ultimate result being threatened by high infection rates. The University of Fort Hare (UFH), in a bid to capacitate the academic staff in respect of the laudable initiative to integrate HIV/AIDS in curricula, decided to embark on a pilot study that is anticipated to form fundamental strategies to sustainable HIV/AIDS curricula integration across all faculties, at least by the end of 2030. The university has planned to engage in the curriculum integration process by implementing a two year cycle pilot study during the grant period. Aim: The main aim of the study was to assess the challenges faced by students and educators concerning the integration and implementation of HIV/AIDS curriculum at the University of Fort Hare. Methods: The study adopted a quantitative, explorative descriptive design to examine the challenges associated with the Integrated HIV/AIDS curriculum at the University of Fort Hare. The target population was the educators and students who had training and teaching in the Integrated HIV/AIDS curriculum. A purposive sampling was used to select 487 students and 23 educators from across three departments: Nursing Science, LKA (Life, Knowledge and Action) and Law involved in the HIV/AIDS Curriculum Integration programme at the university. A self-design questionnaire was used for data collection focusing on the demographic profiles of the participants, the teaching strategies and methodologies adopted in the Integrated HIV/AIDS curriculum, the usefulness and relevance of the newly integrated HIV/AIDS curriculum content in addressing the needs of the students and the community, and the challenges faced by the educators and students in the Integrated HIV/AIDS curriculum. Ethical approved was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Fort Hare. Permission was obtained from the participants through written consent forms. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency counts, percentage, means and standard deviations (SD)). The Chi-square test was used to examine the relationship between the variables of interest across the departments. A p-value of 0.05 was set for statistical significant testing. Results: The majority of the participants have adequate knowledge of HIV transmission, as 93.2 percent indicated HIV can be contracted through unprotected sex, sharing of needles (92.1 percent), receiving a blood transfusion that has not been screened for HIV (83.9 percent), sharing razor blades that has not been disinfected (83.0 percent), and having more than one sexual partner (86 percent). Age, gender, race and department were significantly associated with knowledge of route of HIV transmission. The present study indicated that the participants experienced several challenges during the teaching of the Integrated HIV/AIDS curriculum. Time allocated was the biggest challenge (58.3 percent), followed by undated materials, and curriculum overloading and teaching. The study indicated that majority of the students would like to compile a portfolio of evidence in the teaching of HIV, followed by creative arts, DVD/movies, and internet research. The majority of the lecturers preferred to teach HIV/AIDS through expressive arts, followed by role play, and formal lectures. The majority of the participants stated that HIV/AIDS information would be useful to them to apply in their communities and in their profession (97 percent), emphasizing that such knowledge and information will empower them to participate in roadshows and voluntary work at HIV/AIDS Shelters. The findings of this study pertaining to the challenges faced by educators during the implementation of the Integrated HIV/AIDS curriculum revealed that the majority of the participants stated that the HIV information was not updated, heavy workload, and adequate training. The lecturers expressed that they would prefer to teach HIV/AIDS curriculum by expressive art through drawing and creating art that expresses HIV and the relevance in the students’ community. Conclusions: Majority of the students received teaching of HIV as part of a course, and HIV teaching as an integrated component in a subject, while few received it as a stand-alone subject offered by a lecturer/facilitator. The present study indicated that the participants experienced several challenges during the teaching of the Integrated HIV/AIDS curriculum. Time allocated was the biggest challenge (58.3percent), followed by undated materials, and curriculum overloading and teaching. The majority of students preferred HIV/AIDS to be taught by their peers experience in HIV, by face-to face by a person who is HIV/AIDS infected or affected. The majority of the lecturers preferred to teach HIV/AIDS through expressive arts, followed by role play, and formal lectures. The majority of the participants affirmed the relevancy of HIV information taught. They further indicated that the information and knowledge gain would able them to make informed decisions on sexual behaviour. The majority of the participants stated that the HIV information was not updated, heavy workload, and adequate training. Most of the educators used formal lectures, followed by compilation of a portfolio of evidence, storytelling, DVD and movies, and experiential learning in hospitals and clinics in teaching HIV/AIDS integrated curriculum. The lecturers expressed that they would prefer to teach HIV/AIDS curriculum by expressive art through drawing and creating art that expresses HIV and the relevance in the students’ community. It is recommended that student’s involvement in the decision making processes of the integrated HIV/AIDS curriculum at the University of Fort Hare would make the programme more successful. HIV/AIDS resource materials need to be updated regularly and relevant to provide educators with specialized knowledge to be able to teach HIV/AIDS.
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Pills, Politics and Partners: NGOs and the Management of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Eastern Cape, with special reference to the Lusikisiki Project, 2004-2014
- Authors: Govere, Fredrick Murambiwa
- Date: 2014-06
- Subjects: Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Management , AIDS (Disease) -- Prevention , HIV-positive persons -- Services for -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25720 , vital:64473
- Description: South Africa is one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa where HIV prevalence rates remain stubbornly high.1 This trend is both concerning and difficult to explain given that South Africa is economically well-resourced with a better health care infrastructure relative to other African countries. The African National Congress identified the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a major public health threat to South Africa as early as the 1990s (Parikh and Whiteside, 2007; Gevisser, 2007). In response, international donors provided a substantial amount of financial resources to support improvements in South Africa’s health care infrastructure. The persistently high rates of HIV/AIDS in the population beg for answers to questions such as why South Africa’s political leadership has been unable to control the spread of the disease and what particular social, behavioural and economic factors have contributed to South Africa’s disproportionate share of the global HIV/AIDS burden. At this point in time, public health experts still have not been able to definitively isolate the factors that explain the severity of the HIV/AIDS disease burden within South Africa’s population. While international donor aid continues to play a central role in the social, economic and health betterment in developing nations, its political impact on local governance structures has been much debated.2 In particular, the roles played by non-government organisations (NGOs) in the fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa have been found to be complex, controversial, and their lasting value contested. Specifically debated is the disproportionate global investment in HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment in South Africa and the ways in which it has shaped intervention strategies, public and private policy, and the governance roles assumed by various national and local governmental agencies. Despite the threat of diminished financial support from international donor agencies that has loomed heavily over recipient countries in recent years, a number of key international donors have actually scaled up their global response to HIV/AIDS, particularly in South Africa.3 These donor agencies include the U.S. government’s Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund, as well as non-profit humanitarian organisations such as Mèdecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF), commonly known as Doctors without Borders. This study aims to critically examine the prevailing intervention strategy used by these international donors to “push the pill;” that is, to push a public health agenda that holds antiretroviral (ARV) therapy as the preeminent solution to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the expense of other intervention strategies. While a biomedical approach remains the most compelling intervention strategy, the fight against HIV/AIDS needs to be more comprehensive in its scope taking into account local knowledge and culture. This study will discuss how political rhetoric delivered through the media and monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems has been used to embed a biomedical pill agenda into the organizational culture and intervention strategies implemented by local community-based organizations. Through a process of strategic translation, HIV/AIDS has been portrayed as the number one health problem facing South Africa today; in fact, across all of Sub-Saharan Africa (World Health Organisation 2005a, 2005b). As such, the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has justified the focus on making ARV drugs available throughout Sub-Saharan Africa at the expense of other interventions that could aim more precisely at the key social and health problems faced by the South African population which compromise health and well-being. The question about whose interests are donors and donor-funded agencies representing, and what are the intended and unintended consequences that result from these interests is the subject of this study. The study will attempt to shed light on these questions through a critical examination of the widely publicized HIV/AIDS intervention programme, the Lusikisiki Project, located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. I have drawn extensively from the development discourse literature and such scholars as Ferguson, 1990; Escobar, 1994 and 1995; Rist, 1997; and Mosse, 2005, to provide theoretical grounding for answering the questions posed.4 The study will critically analyse the social and political factors that defined this reputedly successful HIV/AIDS intervention project. Further, the study wil elucidate other cultural and behavioural factors that shaped the initiative in its battle against HIV/AIDS. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2014
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The implementation of HIV and AIDS prevention programmes in three Universities in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Muzenda, Denias https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6552-7319
- Date: 2012-12
- Subjects: Universities and colleges -- Health promotion services , AIDS (Disease) -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25022 , vital:63891
- Description: Given the nature and devastating effects of HIV and AIDS and its impact on society, the universities in Zimbabwe have affirmed the need to define their institutional policy aimed at managing and mitigating the effects of HIV and AIDS. In this regard they have also put in place programmes to address the epidemic. Among the programmes are HIV and AIDS prevention programmes which are being implemented. However, there have been concerns that despite the fact that the programmes are being implemented as planned they have not met their objectives as HIV and AIDS infections have not decreased as expected. Hence this study assesses the implementation of HIV and AIDS prevention programmes in three universities in Zimbabwe. To achieve these objectives, the researcher opted for the mixed method methodology which is embedded in the post-positivist research paradigm. Post-positivist research paradigm attempts to increase our understanding of the way things are and that objectivity is an ideal that can never be achieved, and research is conducted with greater awareness of subjectivity. The researcher had to opt for questionnaires, interviews, document analysis and observations as data collecting instruments. From the Data presented the study found that universities lack adequately professionally qualified HIV and AIDS lecturers. Results on capacity of implementers in the study revealed that an insignificant number of lecturers have the capacity while the majority significant number lacked the capacity to implement the programmes. HIV and AIDS prevention is being implemented by unqualified lecturers who lack training and prerequisite skills for the programme. Furthermore, the study found that Lecturers do not get the necessary professional and institutional support to implement successfully HIV and AIDS programmes in universities. HIV and AIDS Coordinators and NGOs expressed concern over the inadequacy of learning and teaching support material. Funding and lack of resources such as specialist rooms and learning materials are a major impediment to successful implementation of HIV and AIDS. Implementation of HIV and AIDS programmes suffers from inadequate supervision by the relevant stakeholders due to unavailability of transport and financial cost. It also emerged that Human resource is also a major problem since there is a great staff turnover as specialist lecturers leave the system for better paid opportunities in the private sector. Most university lecturer respondents cited staff turnover as long-established and skilled lecturers look for greener pastures within and outside the country. The dominant methods used to implement HIV and AIDS programmes do not give enough room for group work discussions to effect behaviour change in students. Rather, more emphasis is on factual knowledge for assignments and examination purposes. On monitoring and evaluation of HIV and AIDS programmes, the study found that lecturers and students are unaware of their programmes progress bench marks. Universities have not been carrying out internal audits over the past years. This implies that the universities are divorced from Ministry of Higher Education Policy on monitoring and evaluation. Also, less people are involved in the monitoring process of HIV and AIDS programmes. The study found from the universities records that an HIV and AIDS Policy document exists at each university. However, the implementation of HIV and AIDS prevention programmes seemed to have a number of controversies and challenges. The study made the following recommendations against each major finding: Within the organisation, university works continually to equip staff with the knowledge, skills and tools required to analyse programme, implement and monitor interventions for HIV prevention. Capacity to support innovations includes aspects which hinder or support the implementation of new practices and ideas in the new curriculum. Universities should have trained HIV and AIDS Peer educators. For a lecturer to be considered as professionally qualified personnel in universities, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education should stipulate possession of a Master‟s degree or a Doctorate. The researcher provided a section on contribution of the study to new knowledge whereby the researcher proposed an alternative model for HIV and AIDS implementation for universities in Zimbabwe. This model was derived after a thorough analysis of the findings from the study as well as an extensive literature review on the subject. Areas for further research have been suggested in this study. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, 2012
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