Beyond drug treatment: a cross-sectional assessment of palliative care services for people living with HIV/AIDS at public health facilities, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Palliative care offers a care and support system to people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). In Nigeria, the palliative care (PC) practice generally is new and still developing. While most studies on HIV/AIDS assess drug treatment and adherence for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), there is paucity of data on PC services available for them. We therefore assessed the PC services offered and referral services available to PLWHA in health facilities. METHODS: we conducted a cross-sectional study across all public secondary and tertiary health facilities offering HIV care services in Abuja, Nigeria between February and May 2017. We used an interviewer-administered semi-structure questionnaire to collect information from the heads of health facilities. The questionnaire assessed palliative care and referral services for PLWHA. Frequencies and proportions were calculated using Microsoft-Excel. RESULTS: of the 17 health facilities assessed, only 6 (35.3%) have constituted a palliative care team but only 3 (17.6%) had some sources of fund for PC. Twelve (70.6%) provided nutritional support for PLWHA, 6 (35.3%) provided spiritual and 8 (47.1%) offered bereavement support for families of PLWHA. Sixteen (94.1%) had well-established referral services for PLWHA.

Keywords

• palliative care
• human immunodeficiency virus
• referral service
• health facility
• people living with hiv/aids