Are Women Free To Opt Out?

By Isaac Amankwaa

In 2008, Ghana adopted WHO/UNAID's provider-initiated opt-out HIV testing policy and

integrated it into all maternal services. The intervention's central principle was that women

are free to choose whether or not to test for HIV (Consent), assured of Confidentiality,

Correct test results, Connection to care, and Counselling services( referred to as 5Cs).

However, the weak healthcare infrastructure, low hospital staffing levels, hierarchical and

paternalistic nursing and midwifery culture in sub-Saharan Africa were considered potential

threats to achieving rights-based testing. Despite these concerns, much mainstream HIV

testing research had focused on outcome-related to report high HIV test uptake among

women attending the antenatal clinic. However, the reported high testing uptake had not

produced the desired impact, as many women testing positive for HIV did not enter care. To

date, no process evaluation exists to explain these outcomes. The current study recognises

the need for a careful examination of the delivery process. Therefore, it has aimed to

evaluate the antenatal clinic-based opt-out HIV testing programme's implementation fidelity

to explain the observed outcomes.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CQ8PLHBY
• ISBN13: 9798869058621
• Release Date: December 2023
• Publisher: Midhun
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"