Assessment of the attitude of public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria towards people living with HIV/AIDS using the aids attitude scale
Context: According to the UNAIDS, Nigeria has the second heaviest burden of HIV/AIDS in Africa, with 3,459,363 people now living with the condition. Cross River State currently has HIV prevalence of 7.1%, almost double the national prevalence of 4.1%. One of the greatest challenges militating again...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nigerian Medical Association, Akwa Ibom State Branch
2016-08-01
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| Series: | Ibom Medical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://ibommedicaljournal.org/index.php/imjhome/article/view/138 |
| _version_ | 1797271901033201664 |
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| author | Etokidem AJ Oparah S Asibong U Ndifon W Nsan E |
| author_facet | Etokidem AJ Oparah S Asibong U Ndifon W Nsan E |
| author_sort | Etokidem AJ |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Context: According to the UNAIDS, Nigeria has the second heaviest burden of HIV/AIDS in Africa, with 3,459,363 people now living with the condition. Cross River State currently has HIV prevalence of 7.1%, almost double the national prevalence of 4.1%. One of the greatest challenges militating against HIV/AIDS control is stigma and discrimination. When exhibited by health care providers, stigma and discrimination can deter people living with HIV/AIDS from utilising HIV/AIDS care and services.
Objective: To assess the attitude of healthcare providers towards people living with HIV/AIDS.
Materials and methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among 194 public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria, using a semi-structured questionnaire with a 15- point AIDS Attitude Scale. Data collected from the study were analyzed using SPSS Software.
Results: Majority of respondents, 58.8%, agreed that despite all they know concerning how HIV is transmitted, they are still afraid of contacting it while 61.4% indicated that HIV/AIDS has made their jobs a high risk occupation. Nearly 83% of respondents indicated that they don't find it hard to be sympathetic to HIV/AIDS patients and 66% indicated that they would not feel resentful if AIDS patients accounted for a significant part of their caseload.
Conclusion: There was evidence of stigmatizing and discriminatory attitude among the respondents that need to be addressed. There is need for further attitudinal orientation and re-orientation and health education of health-workers so as to remove any vestiges of stigmatizing attitude and ensure quality health care for PLWHAs.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:15:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bcaaceef863b47aa998a71c6cf2e5e5a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1597-7188 2735-9964 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:15:53Z |
| publishDate | 2016-08-01 |
| publisher | Nigerian Medical Association, Akwa Ibom State Branch |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ibom Medical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-bcaaceef863b47aa998a71c6cf2e5e5a2024-03-06T12:07:36ZengNigerian Medical Association, Akwa Ibom State BranchIbom Medical Journal1597-71882735-99642016-08-019210.61386/imj.v9i2.138Assessment of the attitude of public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria towards people living with HIV/AIDS using the aids attitude scaleEtokidem AJOparah SAsibong UNdifon WNsan E Context: According to the UNAIDS, Nigeria has the second heaviest burden of HIV/AIDS in Africa, with 3,459,363 people now living with the condition. Cross River State currently has HIV prevalence of 7.1%, almost double the national prevalence of 4.1%. One of the greatest challenges militating against HIV/AIDS control is stigma and discrimination. When exhibited by health care providers, stigma and discrimination can deter people living with HIV/AIDS from utilising HIV/AIDS care and services. Objective: To assess the attitude of healthcare providers towards people living with HIV/AIDS. Materials and methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among 194 public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria, using a semi-structured questionnaire with a 15- point AIDS Attitude Scale. Data collected from the study were analyzed using SPSS Software. Results: Majority of respondents, 58.8%, agreed that despite all they know concerning how HIV is transmitted, they are still afraid of contacting it while 61.4% indicated that HIV/AIDS has made their jobs a high risk occupation. Nearly 83% of respondents indicated that they don't find it hard to be sympathetic to HIV/AIDS patients and 66% indicated that they would not feel resentful if AIDS patients accounted for a significant part of their caseload. Conclusion: There was evidence of stigmatizing and discriminatory attitude among the respondents that need to be addressed. There is need for further attitudinal orientation and re-orientation and health education of health-workers so as to remove any vestiges of stigmatizing attitude and ensure quality health care for PLWHAs. https://ibommedicaljournal.org/index.php/imjhome/article/view/138HIV/AIDSattitudepublic healthhealth workersstigmatizationdiscrimination |
| spellingShingle | Etokidem AJ Oparah S Asibong U Ndifon W Nsan E Assessment of the attitude of public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria towards people living with HIV/AIDS using the aids attitude scale Ibom Medical Journal HIV/AIDS attitude public health health workers stigmatization discrimination |
| title | Assessment of the attitude of public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria towards people living with HIV/AIDS using the aids attitude scale |
| title_full | Assessment of the attitude of public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria towards people living with HIV/AIDS using the aids attitude scale |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of the attitude of public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria towards people living with HIV/AIDS using the aids attitude scale |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of the attitude of public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria towards people living with HIV/AIDS using the aids attitude scale |
| title_short | Assessment of the attitude of public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria towards people living with HIV/AIDS using the aids attitude scale |
| title_sort | assessment of the attitude of public health workers in calabar cross river state of nigeria towards people living with hiv aids using the aids attitude scale |
| topic | HIV/AIDS attitude public health health workers stigmatization discrimination |
| url | https://ibommedicaljournal.org/index.php/imjhome/article/view/138 |
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