Showing 21 - 37 of 37 Results for "Namibia"

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Programs must adhere to the longstanding international agreement to voluntarism, informed consent, and ensuring the right of individuals and couples to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children. Studies found that women living with HIV had been sterilized against their will, were pressured by providers to terminate a pregnancy, or were stigmatized for becoming pregnant. Studies also found that provision of antiretroviral therapy was conditional on using certain types of contraception. Litigation is currently being undertaken. A study found that HIV-positive women who accessed contraceptive services were not informed of the benefits of PMTCT programs in reducing vertical transmission.
Meeting the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of Women Living With HIV
1 study
Efforts are needed to effectively implement Option B+ in non-prejudicial ways. Women who were sex workers reported being denied care until delivery. Women who were not accompanied by husbands were denied any health services during pregnancy. A sign on health centers read: “Notice: all pregnant women are supposed to come with their husbands/partners at their first visit. You will not be given services without implementing this” (Beckham et al., 2015: 66).
Antenatal Care - Treatment
1 study
Women living with HIV need information and access to services for emergency contraception and post-abortion care (PAC) services. Studies found that women did not have adequate knowledge of emergency contraception, nor access to services for post-abortion care.
Meeting the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of Women Living With HIV
1 study
Interventions are needed for male involvement that do not such reinforce harmful gender norms or increase risk for violence, stigma or discrimination. “Evidence for effectiveness of male involvement in PMTCT programs is scant” (Beckham et al., 2015: 67). One study only evaluated male involvement as accompanying their pregnant partner to ANC care with no HIV related outcomes listed and tasking the woman to require her male partner to come to ANC (Nyondo et al., 2015). Most approaches only reach men through their pregnant spouse, with no services for men beyond HIV testing and use men as an instrument solely to increase access to services by women. Men have been denied involvement in antenatal care, birth and delivery even if the couple so chooses.
Antenatal Care - Treatment
1 study
Strategies, including legal strategies, are needed to empower pregnant women living with HIV to ask questions, be properly informed and to challenge stigma, disrespect and abuse. [See also %{s:67}] Consequences for violating patient confidentiality, redress for women with HIV facing discrimination in facilities, and stigma reduction efforts are needed to increase adherence to cART, prior to, during and post pregnancy, including training for providers.
Antenatal Care - Treatment
1 study
Changing laws and policies, ending police violence, and other mechanisms are needed to protect sex workers from violence and rape. Studies found sex workers experienced high rates of violence and rape from clients and police, and that fear of arrest was a barrier to accessing health services. Studies also found that violence was associated with inconsistent condom use and HIV incidence. Studies also found high rates of violence from intimate partners and clients, but inability to press charges.
Female Sex Workers
1 study
Promoting pleasure in male and female condom use can increase the practice of safer sex.
Male and Female Condom Use
2 studies Gray IV, V female condoms, sex behavior Brazil, New Zealand, North America
Interventions are needed to reduce cross-generational sex and marriage. Studies found that young women relied on older men to pay their school fees in exchange for sex. Numerous studies found significant numbers of young girls having sexual relationships with older men, who are more likely to be HIV-positive and seek sexual partnerships with younger women. Studies also found that due to poverty, parents encouraged transactional sex and that efforts are needed to address parental pressures.
Mitigating Risk
1 study
Additional efforts are needed to provide information and more contraceptive options for women living with HIV (or whose serostatus is unknown) who do not desire to have a child or wish to space the next pregnancy. The 2012 WHO guidelines on hormonal contraceptives and HIV should be widely disseminated to programs and providers. Studies found that many HIV-positive women had significant numbers of unintended pregnancies and that preferred contraceptive methods were not available.
Meeting the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of Women Living With HIV
1 study
Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision
Prevention for Women
Male circumcision has now been shown in three randomized clinical trials to reduce the risk of HIV acquisition for men by 50-60% (Auvert et al., 2005; Bailey et al., 2007; Gray et al., 2007). Male circumcision at birth as part of postnatal care could result, upon sexual initiation and during his lifetime, in a reduction in the risk of HIV acquisition. Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) ...
Strengthening the Enabling Environment
In order for HIV and/or AIDS interventions for women and girls to succeed, factors beyond the health services need to be addressed through multisectoral interventions. These environmental factors include gender norms that guide how girls and boys grow to be women and men, legal norms that confer or withhold rights for women and girls, access to education, income, levels of tolerance for violenc...
Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) may be effectively integrated into school programs. [See also %{s:5}]
Mitigating Risk
4 studies Gray IIIb, V adolescents, male circumcision South Africa
Male and Female Condom Use
Prevention for Women
The role of condom use in prevention of sexual transmission of HIV is clear. According to the WHO and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, male condoms that are intact are essentially impermeable to even the smallest sexually transmitted virus (UNAIDS, 2004). The effectiveness of male condoms has been shown to be between 8095 percent, depending on how correctly they are used (Weller and Davi...
Malaria
Preventing, Detecting and Treating Critical Co-Infections
Malaria and HIV co-infection is a critical public health problem that may fuel the spread of both diseases in countries where both diseases are endemic. Malaria seems to be more common for people living with HIV and in areas of unstable malaria transmission, people living with HIV face increased risk of death (Mermin et al., 2006). Men and women living with HIV with CD4 counts below 300 cells p...
Addressing Violence Against Women
Strengthening the Enabling Environment
Violence, in addition to being a human rights violation, has been clearly demonstrated as a risk factor for HIV (WHO, 2010f; Stephenson, 2007; Jewkes et al., 2006a; Manfrin-Ledet and Porche, 2003; Dunkle et al., 2004; Quigley et al., 2000b; Silverman et al., 2008). Analysis of DHS data in Rwanda showed that currently married women with few, if any, sexual risk factors for HIV but who have exper...
Prevention and Services for Adolescents and Young People
The interventions in this section should also be viewed in conjunction with other topics where young women are included. Studies with adolescent-specific data are also included in the following sections: %{c:5}; %{c:7}; %{c:11}; %{c:13}; %{c:17}; %{c:21}; and %{c:23}. HIV among adolescents is a growing concern. UNAIDS notes that adolescent girls and young women are a key population in danger o...
Advancing Human Rights and Access to Justice for Women and Girls
Strengthening the Enabling Environment
*Respecting, protecting and fulfilling womens rights, particularly the rights of the most marginalized women, is increasingly understood as fundamental to an effective HIV response. Laws reflecting unequal gender norms that discriminate against women may limit their ability to protect themselves from HIV infection. In many countries where women are most at risk for acquiring HIV, laws to protec...