Abstract
IntroductionGlobal commitment to stop HIV and ensure access to HIV treatment call for women empowering as these efforts play a major role in mother to child transmission. We explored the association between women decision-making capacity and HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Materials and methodsWe used data from current Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2016 in 30 countries within SSA. At the descriptive level, we calculated the prevalence of women who had undergone HIV testing and decision-making capacity in each of the countries as well as prevalence of HIV testing across their socio-demographic characteristics. We used Binary Logistic Regression to explore the likelihood of HIV testing by decision-making capacity and socio-demographic characteristics at 5% margin of error. The results were presented as Crude Odds Ratios (CORs) and Adjusted Odds Ratios (AORs). ResultsWe found that overall, 10.0% of women had decision-making with Nigeria (4.5%) and Zimbabwe (21.3%) recording the least and the highest respectively. In terms of HIV testing, the prevalence of HIV testing in the 30 SSA countries was 64.4%, with Guinea (12.8%) having the least. The highest occurred in Lesotho (99%) and Rwanda (99%). Women who had capacity to make decisions had higher likelihood of HIV testing [AOR=1.04, CI=1.02–1.09]. Women from Rwanda had the highest likelihood of HIV testing [AOR=53.92, CI=41.31–70.37] with women from Guinea having the least likelihood [AOR=0.10, CI=0.08–0.11]. Other determinants to HIV testing were level of education, wealth status, believing that a healthy-looking person can have HIV, watching television almost every day, age and place of residence.Conclusion SSA countries intending to improve HIV testing need to incorporate women decision-making capacity strategies in terms of education and counselling into the available policies. This is essential because our study indicates that as women are able to make decisions in their households, the possibility for them to test for their HIV status increases.
Female adolescents’ reproductive health decision-making capacity and contraceptive use in sub-Saharan Africa: What does the future hold?
