BACKGROUND: Mother to child transmission accounts for the majority of HIV infections in children in the developing countries. This study assessed pregnant women's knowledge of HIV/AIDS, awareness and attitudes towards Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) in a teaching hospital in northern Nigeria. METHODS: A pre-tested structured interview questionnaire was administered on a cross-section of 210 antenatal clients in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. RESULTS: All respondents were aware of HIV/AIDS. Fifty seven percent had good knowledge, 32% had fair knowledge and the remaining 11% had poor knowledge of the infection. Most respondents were aware of VCT through health workers, mass media and friends. Similarly, most respondents (81.0%) approved of VCT, 13.0% disapproved of it and the remaining (6%) was undecided. The main reasons for disapproval were; fear of stigmatisation, isolation and effect on marriage security. Those that had tertiary level of education were three times more likely to accept VCT compared to those with lower levels of education (O.R=3.2, 95% confidence interval =1.3-8.0). CONCLUSIONS: Although the awareness of VCT for HIV was quite high with most antenatal clients harbouring positive attitudes towards it, there is a need to intensify health education to convince the remaining minority who are still sceptical or ignorant of the benefits of VCT.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Regional differentials of fertility in Bangladesh estimated from the relational Gompertz model.

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Asia↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Estimating adult mortality from a census based method.

"In this paper a simple method is presented to derive current adult mortality level. The sensitivity of estimates to various forms of data error is considered, and procedures are proposed for removing errors resulting from differential census coverage completeness and from age misstatement. The estimated life expectancy at age 5 derived from the method seems plausible." The method is applied to census data for Bangladesh to estimate adult mortality for the period 1974-1981. (summary in FRE, ITA)

Adult↗