Can integrating family planning services into HIV/AIDS treatment and care increase contraceptive use and decrease unintended pregnancy among HIV-positive women? UCSF is partnering with the Kenya Medical Research Institute and Ibis Reproductive Health to find out.
University of California, San Francisco
“’Two-thirds of the world’s HIV-infected population lives in sub-Saharan Africa and 60 percent are estimated to be women. Recent evidence suggests high rates of unintended pregnancy among HIV-infected women. Family planning is the cornerstone for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV and can also reduce maternal mortality, but family planning services are not always accessible at many of the public health clinics providing HIV care and treatment,’ said the study’s primary investigator, Craig R. Cohen, MD, MPH, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UCSF.
The research will be conducted at 18 HIV care and treatment clinics in Nyanza Province, Kenya. With 15.3 percent of its population HIV-infected, Nyanza Province has the highest seroprevalence rate amongst provinces in Kenya. These clinics are supported by the Family AIDS Care and Education Services (FACES) Program, a collaboration between UCSF and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). At 12 randomly selected clinics, HIV-infected clients will receive the intervention package of integrated family planning and HIV care. At each of the six clinic control sites, HIV-infected clients will receive standard HIV care and a referral to a separate family planning clinic within the same facility for contraceptive services.
The study’s first objective is to improve family planning clinical and counseling skills of clinicians and community health workers at all the FACES-supported HIV care and treatment clinics. A training curriculum on family planning counseling and method provision will be developed and implemented…”
Read the full news release here.
Maternal Mortality Daily 