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Biomedical subjects

Rachel King

Publications and source records attributed to Rachel King.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Desire for children and pregnancy risk behavior among HIV-infected men and women in Uganda.

To identify ways to improve prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,092 HIV-infected men and women attending an AIDS support organization in Jinja, Uganda, between October 2003 and June 2004. Pregnancy risk behavior was defined as having sex without contraceptive or condom. Overall, 42% of participants were sexually active, 33% practiced pregnancy risk behavior, and 18% desired more children. Men were almost four times to want more children than the women (27% vs. 7%). Among those practicing pregnancy risk behavior, 73% did not want more children and were at high risk for unwanted pregnancies. Although 81% knew that mother-to-child transmission of HIV could be prevented, only 22% believed that an HIV-infected woman who received PMTCT therapy could still deliver an HIV-infected child. Lack of MTCT information, having attended the program for </=2 years and desire for children were independently associated with pregnancy risk behavior. PMTCT and other HIV prevention and care programs should ensure provision of family planning for HIV-infected populations who do not want to become pregnant.

Adult↗

Traditional healers for HIV/AIDS prevention and family planning, Kiboga District, Uganda: evaluation of a program to improve practices.

In the face of ongoing epidemics of HIV/AIDS and STI, high demand for family planning, and limited resources, traditional healers may be under-utilized providers of reproductive health education in rural sub-Saharan Africa. We implemented a training program in HIV prevention and family planning methods for healers in the Kiboga district of Uganda and evaluated the program's impact on healers' clinical practice and the diffusion of information to their female clients. Of 46 healers recruited, 30 (65%) completed a pre- and post-training interview. Following training, traditional healers increased discussions of family planning with their clients. Of 84 female clients recruited, 44 (52%) completed the interview before and after the training for healers. Female clients corroborated that they increased discussions of family planning with their healers, as well as discussions about HIV/AIDS. Both healers and their female clients were more likely to make a connection between family planning, condom use, and HIV prevention after the training compared to before the training. Findings provide evidence that traditional healers in a rural area of Uganda can successfully adapt HIV prevention messages and family planning information into their clinical practices.

Adult↗

Defining minimum standards of practice for incorporating African traditional medicine into HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support: a regional initiative in eastern and southern Africa.

In many resource-poor settings of Africa, a majority of people living with HIV/AIDS depend on and choose traditional healers for psychosocial counseling and health care. If the current pan-African prevention and care efforts spurred by the HIV pandemic do not actively engage African Traditional Medicine, they will effectively miss 80%, the vast majority of the African people who, according to the World Health Organization, rely on traditional medicine for their primary health care needs. In 2001, the Ugandan nongovernmental organization, Traditional and Modern Health Practitioners Together Against AIDS and Other Diseases, in Kampala, identified the need for a concerted, systematic, and sustained effort at both local and regional levels to support and validate African Traditional Medicine on several fronts. The Eastern & Southern Africa Regional Initiative on Traditional Medicine and AIDS was borne out of this assessment. It convened a regional consultation in May 2003, which produced a series of proposed standards around six main themes related to traditional medicine and HIV/AIDS: the systematic evaluation of traditional remedies; spiritual aspects of healing; HIV prevention and care; processing and packaging of traditional remedies; protection of indigenous knowledge; and intellectual property rights related to traditional health systems. These standards, summarized in this paper, will be incorporated into programs on traditional medicine and HIV/AIDS by various implementers in the region. A number of strategies to test and implement these recommendations are also defined.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Primary care-led NHS.

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Attitude of Health Personnel↗