Integration of HIV and cervical cancer screening perceptions and preferences of communities in Uganda

BMC Women's Health

Research Article

Vanja Berggren¹  Henry Wabinga²  Sören Andersson³  Edward Kumakech⁴ 

[1] Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, 221 00, Lund, Sweden;Department of Pathology, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, PO Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda;School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden;Department of Laboratory Medicine, Örebro University Hospital, 703 62, Örebro, Sweden;School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden;Department of Pathology, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, PO Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda;

关键词: HIV;    Cervical cancer;    Integration;    Perceptions;    Uganda;    Screening;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12905-015-0183-4

 received in 2014-07-21, accepted in 2015-02-24,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundDespite the fact that HIV-positive women carry an increased risk of developing cervical cancer (CC) in comparison with HIV-negative women, HIV and CC screening programs in many developing countries have remained unintegrated. The objective of this study is to explore perceptions and preferences of community members in Uganda, including women, men, and village health teams, regarding the integration of HIV and CC screening services in a single-visit approach.MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted in three districts in Uganda. Data were collected through focus group discussions with women and village health teams, and individual interviews with men. Respondents were purposely selected from among those linked to three CC clinics in the three districts. The content analysis method was used to analyze the data.ResultsThree themes emerged from the data, namely appreciating the benefits of integration, worrying about the challenges of integration, and preferences for integration. The women endorsed the benefits. However, there were worries that integration would prolong the waiting time at the health facility and induce tiredness in both the healthcare providers and the women. There were also fears of being found positive for both HIV and CC and the consequences such as stress, self-isolation, and social conflicts. Participants, particularly the women, considered the challenges of screening integration to be manageable by, for example, taking a day off work to visit the hospital, delegating house chores to other family members, or taking a packed lunch on visiting the hospital.ConclusionsThe community members in Uganda perceive the benefits of HIV and CC screening integration to outweigh the challenges, and expect that the challenges can be minimized or managed by the women. Therefore, when considering HIV and CC screening integration, it is important to not only recognize the benefits but also take into consideration the perceived challenges and preferences of community members.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Kumakech et al.; licensee BioMed Central . 2015