Ebola virus disease outbreak in Guinea: what effects on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV services?
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RESEARCH
Open Access
Ebola virus disease outbreak in Guinea: what effects on prevention of mother-tochild transmission of HIV services? Niouma Nestor Leno1,2* , Alexandre Delamou2,3,4, Youssouf Koita5, Thierno Souleymane Diallo6, Abdoulaye Kaba1, Therese Delvaux4, Wim Van Damme4 and Marie Laga4
Abstract Background: An unprecedented epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) affected Guinea in 2014 and 2015. It weakened the already fragile Guinean health system. This study aimed to assess the effects of the outbreak on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services in 2014. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study. Data was collected from 60 public health centers (30 in the EVD affected areas and 30 in the unaffected areas). The comparison of PMTCT indicators between the period before Ebola (2013) and during Ebola (2014) was done using the t- test for the means and the Chi-square test for the proportions. Results: This study showed a substantial and significant reduction in the mean number of antenatal care visits (ANC) in the affected localities, 1617 ± 53 in 2013 versus 1065 ± 29 in 2014, p = 0.0004. This would represent 41% drop in health facilities’ performance. On the other hand, in the unaffected localities, the fall was not significant. The same observations were made about the number of HIV tests performed for pregnant women and the number of HIV positive pregnant women initiating ARVs. The study also noted an increase in the proportion of women tested HIV+ but who did not receive ARVs (12% in 2013 versus 44% in 2014) and HIV+ pregnant women who delivered at home (18% in 2014 versus 7% in 2013). Conclusion: This study showed that PMTCT services, which are one of the key services to improve maternal and child health, were affected in Guinea during this Ebola outbreak in 2014 compared to 2013. Keywords: Ebola, Effects, PMTCT, Health system, Guinea
Plain English Summary Why was this study conducted?
This study aimed to assess the effects of the outbreak on PMTCT services in Guinée, in 2014.
period from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2014. The ANC and PMTCT registers were used for this collection. For each of the two areas, we compared the 2013 values to the 2014 values to estimate the changes that occurred as effect of the outbreak.
How was the study conducted?
We assessed changes in PMTCT indicators during the first year (2014) of the epidemic. We have included 60 public health centers, including 30 in affected areas and 30 in unaffected areas. The data collected covers the * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Bureau de Stratégie et de Développement du Ministère de la Santé, Conakry, Guinea 2 Chair de Santé Publique de l’Université Gamal Abdel Nasser de Conakry, Conakry, Guinea Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
What was found in this study?
In 2014, the number of pregnant women attending ANC visits fell by 41% in the EVD affected localities, compared to only 7% in the unaffected localities. All PMTCT indicators fell sharply dur
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