Peer-reviewed article
Barriers of HIV treatment-seeking behavior among youths living with HIV in Uganda: a qualitative study
Anthony Kiwanuka, Eddy Walakira, Lena M. C. Andersson, David Kaawa Mafigiri ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This qualitative study explored barriers to HIV treatment-seeking among youth aged 18-24 living with HIV in Uganda. Researchers conducted 20 in-depth interviews with young people newly diagnosed and 30 interviews with health service providers. The study identified multiple barriers including fear of stigma and disclosure, lack of family support, work commitments, transport costs, antiretroviral side effects, and long waiting times. The findings point to the need for stigma reduction, improved family and couple counseling, youth-friendly clinic hours, and attention to gender inequalities.
Key points
- Fear of stigma and HIV disclosure was the most significant barrier to treatment-seeking among youth
- Lack of family support prevented young men and women from accessing HIV care
- Practical barriers included demanding work schedules, high transport costs, long waiting times, and long travel distances
- Health system barriers included antiretroviral drug side effects and inadequate respect for patients from service providers
- Recommendations include targeted stigma-reduction interventions, couple counseling, health education, and youth-friendly flexible clinic hours
Limitations
This qualitative study with a small sample of 20 youth cannot be generalised to all youth living with HIV in Uganda or other contexts. The study does not quantify the relative importance of different barriers or measure the actual impact of identified barriers on treatment outcomes.
Abstract
Introduction: This study aimed to explore experienced barriers to seek human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment and care among youth living with HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Uganda.Given that this population remains at the center of HIV epidemic, the study's ultimate goal was to contribute to improvement of effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions for youth in Uganda.Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with HIV-infected youth aged between 18 and 24, who had entered care within one year upon receipt of results and referral for free care.In addition, key-informant interviews were conducted with 30 health service providers.The study used thematic content analysis to analyze its' findings.The study demonstrated that barriers to using HIV care included fear of stigma and HIV disclosure, young men and women's lack of support from their families, demanding work schedules, and high transport costs.Programmatic barriers included fear of stigma, antiretroviral drug side effects, long waiting and travel times, and inadequate service providers' respect for patients.The study recommends targeted interventions to combat stigma, strengthen couple counseling and health education programs, and address gender inequalities among other things. Material and methods:We conducted 20 in-depth interviews among HIV-infected individuals aged between 18 and 24 years and key-informant interviews.Results: Barriers to using HIV care included, among others, fear of stigma and HIV disclosure, and young men and women's lack of support.Conclusions: Targeted interventions to combat stigma, strengthen couple counseling and health education programs, focus on gender inequalities as well as implement youth-friendly and flexible clinic service hours are all needed to address barriers to using care of HIV patients.