research proposal
Audit Proposal
Do Private Laboratories provide HIV/AIDS Counselling and Testing?
Nigeria as a country has a population of 167 million people (1) while her HIV prevalence rate is 3.4 %; an approximately 3.4million people are living with HIV/AIDS. This number represents the second highest HIV burden in the world second only to South Africa (2). The Government of Nigeria has intervened and put in place different measures to reduce this incidence to its barest minimum amongst which is the National Strategic Plan (NSP) (3). One of the specific goals of the President’s Comprehensive Response Plan (PCRP) is to avail 80 million men and women aged 15 and older knowledge of their HIV status by the year 2015 (NACA, 2013) .However, the uptake of HCT is still low among Nigerians. In 2012, the total number of persons who were counseled tested and received results in twelve months was only 2,792,611 (4 & 5). Despite many efforts, many Nigerians still do not have access to knowledge of their status; possible reasons for this include: many laboratories do not provide services to people who desire to know their status, the majority of private laboratories operate around a revolving fund, there is test reagents stockout and also little attention has been paid to the role of private for-profit providers in HIV testing (6).
Rationale for the audit
Globally 35.3 million people are living with HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, 2013) (7 & 8). One of the current methods of diagnosing HIV in people is through testing in the public and private laboratories. It is important to understand how these labs function so as to document what services they offer, their methods of testing and the procedure they follow in linking newly diagnosed people to care. Laboratory services form an essential component of the health sector and require necessary strengthening for improved testing, research and other activities. They face Stigma, Shame, Denial, Discrimination, In-action and Misinformation when they know
Do Private Laboratories provide HIV/AIDS Counselling and Testing?
Nigeria as a country has a population of 167 million people (1) while her HIV prevalence rate is 3.4 %; an approximately 3.4million people are living with HIV/AIDS. This number represents the second highest HIV burden in the world second only to South Africa (2). The Government of Nigeria has intervened and put in place different measures to reduce this incidence to its barest minimum amongst which is the National Strategic Plan (NSP) (3). One of the specific goals of the President’s Comprehensive Response Plan (PCRP) is to avail 80 million men and women aged 15 and older knowledge of their HIV status by the year 2015 (NACA, 2013) .However, the uptake of HCT is still low among Nigerians. In 2012, the total number of persons who were counseled tested and received results in twelve months was only 2,792,611 (4 & 5). Despite many efforts, many Nigerians still do not have access to knowledge of their status; possible reasons for this include: many laboratories do not provide services to people who desire to know their status, the majority of private laboratories operate around a revolving fund, there is test reagents stockout and also little attention has been paid to the role of private for-profit providers in HIV testing (6).
Rationale for the audit
Globally 35.3 million people are living with HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, 2013) (7 & 8). One of the current methods of diagnosing HIV in people is through testing in the public and private laboratories. It is important to understand how these labs function so as to document what services they offer, their methods of testing and the procedure they follow in linking newly diagnosed people to care. Laboratory services form an essential component of the health sector and require necessary strengthening for improved testing, research and other activities. They face Stigma, Shame, Denial, Discrimination, In-action and Misinformation when they know
References: 1. NPC. Nigeria over 167 million population: Implications and Challenges. National Population Commission, 2014. 2. Federal Ministry of Health [Nigeria] (2013). National HIV & AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey,2012 (NARHS Plus). Federal Ministry of Health Abuja, Nigeria. 351-353, 133 3.National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan 2010-2015: January 2010 11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Association of Public Health Laboratories. Laboratory Testing for the Diagnosis of HIV Infection: Updated Recommendations. Available at http://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/23447. Published June 27, 2014.