Obstetric practices related to HIV in Kerala
| Autor: | Choudhury Lp, Kutty Vr |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2008 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Health Knowledge Attitudes Practice Cross-sectional study Attitude of Health Personnel Developing country India HIV Infections Disease Nursing Patient Education as Topic Informed consent Pregnancy Surveys and Questionnaires Medicine Humans Mass Screening Confidentiality Practice Patterns Physicians' Pregnancy Complications Infectious Referral and Consultation Government Health Services Needs and Demand Informed Consent Public Sector Transmission (medicine) business.industry AIDS Serodiagnosis Prenatal Care General Medicine Infectious Disease Transmission Vertical Test (assessment) Obstetrics Cross-Sectional Studies Female Private Sector Clinical Competence Health Services Research business |
| Zdroj: | Indian journal of medical ethics. 4(1) |
| ISSN: | 0974-8466 |
| Popis: | This survey of obstetricians’ knowledge and practices in two districts in Kerala, India, finds a number of unethical practices: most providers are unaware of the value of the rapid screening test for HIV; they do not give pregnant women the option to refuse testing; testing is done without counselling, private doctors refer pregnant women who test positive to government hospitals, and some health services have separate facilities for pregnant women who test positive. Women and children are the most seriously affected in the HIV-AIDS epidemic. With 27 million pregnancies and with the current prevalence of HIV infection among pregnant women in India, an estimated 100,000 HIV infected women deliver every year (1). The number of HIV-positive women is increasing, and with it the number of babies with HIV infection. To prevent the spread of the disease from mother to child, HIV counselling and testing along with confidentiality and ethical obstetric practice are important. But unethical obstetric practices have been reported from different parts of the world. A study by Guenter et al from Canada shows that antenatal care providers place little emphasis on informed consent (2). A study in Botswana found that counselling in antenatal care is inadequate in terms of availability, content and quality; only one-half of all clients have been counselled and one-half of those have agreed to HIV testing (3). According to the current national guidelines of India and state level guidelines in Kerala, all pregnant women accessing antenatal services should be offered HIV testing after counselling by a trained counsellor, and their informed written consent should be obtained. An “opt-out policy” should be employed: that is, every antenatal attendee should be informed about the benefits of HIV screening and should be told that she will be screened unless she expresses her unwillingness to undergo HIV screening. The test results should be given to the woman in the post-test counselling session and confidentiality about the test results should be maintained. Finally, health services must not segregate facilities for women who test positive; standard universal safety practices will prevent infection transmission |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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