Survey of children accessing HIV services in a high prevalence setting: time for adolescents to count?
OBJECTIVE: To establish the proportion of adolescents among children infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Zimbabwe who receive HIV care and support, and what clinic staff perceives to be the main problems faced by HIV-infected children and adolescents. METHODS: In July 2008, we sent a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The World Health Organization
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| Series: | Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862010000600011&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1797287539019612160 |
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| author | Rashida Ferrand Sara Lowe Barbra Whande Lucia Munaiwa Lisa Langhaug Frances Cowan Owen Mugurungi Diana Gibb Shungu Munyati Brian G Williams Elizabeth L Corbett |
| author_facet | Rashida Ferrand Sara Lowe Barbra Whande Lucia Munaiwa Lisa Langhaug Frances Cowan Owen Mugurungi Diana Gibb Shungu Munyati Brian G Williams Elizabeth L Corbett |
| author_sort | Rashida Ferrand |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | OBJECTIVE: To establish the proportion of adolescents among children infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Zimbabwe who receive HIV care and support, and what clinic staff perceives to be the main problems faced by HIV-infected children and adolescents. METHODS: In July 2008, we sent a questionnaire to all 131 facilities providing HIV care in Zimbabwe. In it we requested an age breakdown of the children (aged 0-19 years) registered for care and asked what were the two major problems faced by younger children (0-5 years) and adolescents (10-19 years). FINDINGS: Nationally, 115 (88%) facilities responded. In 98 (75%) that provided complete data, 196 032 patients were registered and 24 958 (13%) of them were children. Of children under HIV care, 33% were aged 0-4 years; 25%, 5-9 years; 25%, 10-14 years; and 17%, 15-19 years. Staff highlighted differences in the problems most commonly faced by younger children and adolescents. For younger children, such problems were malnutrition and lack of appropriate drugs (cited by 46% and 40% of clinics, respectively); for adolescents they concerned psychosocial issues and poor drug adherence (cited by 56% and 36%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Interventions for the large cohort of adolescents who are receiving HIV care in Zimbabwe need to target the psychosocial concerns and poor drug adherence reported by staff as being the main concerns in this age group. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T18:35:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ff97c367f0494c28a20e777f6a017935 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0042-9686 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T18:35:48Z |
| publisher | The World Health Organization |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
| spelling | doaj.art-ff97c367f0494c28a20e777f6a0179352024-03-02T05:04:57ZengThe World Health OrganizationBulletin of the World Health Organization0042-968688642843410.1590/S0042-96862010000600011S0042-96862010000600011Survey of children accessing HIV services in a high prevalence setting: time for adolescents to count?Rashida Ferrand0Sara Lowe1Barbra Whande2Lucia Munaiwa3Lisa Langhaug4Frances Cowan5Owen Mugurungi6Diana Gibb7Shungu Munyati8Brian G Williams9Elizabeth L Corbett10London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineBiomedical Research and Training InstituteBiomedical Research and Training InstituteBiomedical Research and Training InstituteUniversity of LondonUniversity of LondonMinistry of Health and Child WelfareMedical Research Council Clinical Trials UnitBiomedical Research and Training InstituteSouth African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and AnalysisLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineOBJECTIVE: To establish the proportion of adolescents among children infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Zimbabwe who receive HIV care and support, and what clinic staff perceives to be the main problems faced by HIV-infected children and adolescents. METHODS: In July 2008, we sent a questionnaire to all 131 facilities providing HIV care in Zimbabwe. In it we requested an age breakdown of the children (aged 0-19 years) registered for care and asked what were the two major problems faced by younger children (0-5 years) and adolescents (10-19 years). FINDINGS: Nationally, 115 (88%) facilities responded. In 98 (75%) that provided complete data, 196 032 patients were registered and 24 958 (13%) of them were children. Of children under HIV care, 33% were aged 0-4 years; 25%, 5-9 years; 25%, 10-14 years; and 17%, 15-19 years. Staff highlighted differences in the problems most commonly faced by younger children and adolescents. For younger children, such problems were malnutrition and lack of appropriate drugs (cited by 46% and 40% of clinics, respectively); for adolescents they concerned psychosocial issues and poor drug adherence (cited by 56% and 36%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Interventions for the large cohort of adolescents who are receiving HIV care in Zimbabwe need to target the psychosocial concerns and poor drug adherence reported by staff as being the main concerns in this age group.http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862010000600011&lng=en&tlng=en |
| spellingShingle | Rashida Ferrand Sara Lowe Barbra Whande Lucia Munaiwa Lisa Langhaug Frances Cowan Owen Mugurungi Diana Gibb Shungu Munyati Brian G Williams Elizabeth L Corbett Survey of children accessing HIV services in a high prevalence setting: time for adolescents to count? Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
| title | Survey of children accessing HIV services in a high prevalence setting: time for adolescents to count? |
| title_full | Survey of children accessing HIV services in a high prevalence setting: time for adolescents to count? |
| title_fullStr | Survey of children accessing HIV services in a high prevalence setting: time for adolescents to count? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Survey of children accessing HIV services in a high prevalence setting: time for adolescents to count? |
| title_short | Survey of children accessing HIV services in a high prevalence setting: time for adolescents to count? |
| title_sort | survey of children accessing hiv services in a high prevalence setting time for adolescents to count |
| url | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862010000600011&lng=en&tlng=en |
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