142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Positive living practices among people living with HIV/AIDS in Western Equatoria state, South Sudan

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Pamela Mukaire, MEd, MPH, DrPH , Resources for Improving Birth Outcomes - RIBO, Loma Linda, CA
Cleto Pasquale Madut, Diploma CM , Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference, Khartoum, Sudan
The Western Equatoria state of South Sudan has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS at 7.2% compared to the national level of 3%. As a hot spot Western Equatoria state poses a real threat in escalating the epidemic due to increased large refugee population movements and interactions. Thus focusing on reducing the risk of HIV transmission among high risk populations and providing critical support services to underserved populations with large numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS is an urgent priority in halting and reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS.

This project conducted a Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) survey in Western Equatoria state to assess positive living practices of 114 HIV positive individuals aged 15 to 54 years from 19 villages. Results indicated that 29.7% knew at least two benefits of taking ARVs, 65.3% self-reported adhering to ARVs, 38.9% used condoms consistently, 41.2% disclosed their status with sexual partner at the last sexual act, and 49.4% were interested in knowing the HIV status of their sexual partners at last sexual act. LQAS follow-up diagnostic focus group interviews were conducted with 60 men and women ages 15-54 year to assess factors related to identified risky behaviors. We learned that economic, social and disclosure vulnerabilities significantly contributed to risky sexual behaviors.

Program priorities were re-framed and new strategies developed in efforts to contain and prevent transmission, as well as improve positive prevention services.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe the positive living practices of people living with HIV/AIDS in this population Describe the factors associated with positive living in this population Discuss lessons learned in community-based HIV prevention, care and support programs in a post-conflict setting.

Keyword(s): HIV Risk Behavior, Risk Factors/Assesment

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a doctoral candidate with research interests in HIV prevention programming in post conflict contexts like South Sudan. I participated as volunteer in analyzing and interpreting results against set indicators.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.