CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE COUNSELLORS’ PRACTICES RELATING TO HIV COUNSELLING AND TESTING FOR INTENDING COUPLES IN IBADAN, NIGERIA
2nd Biennial Conference
Authors
Abstract
The cross-sectional study involved the use of a four-stage random sampling technique to select 660 CMC from
churches which are affiliated to the Christian Association of Nigeria. A validated semi-structured questionnaire
was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test were used to analyse the data at p=0.05.
Respondents’ age was 45.0±8.6 years, 60.3% were males, and most (99.4 %) were literate. Majority (88.0%)
stated that pre-marriage courses for IC with infused HIV related topics existed in their churches. Majority (73.2%)
of the respondents indulge in the practice of requesting intending couples to undergo compulsory HCT. Other
medical requirements requested by churches before solemnizing a marriage included pregnancy test (27.1%),
genotype testing (23.0%) and blood test (20.0%). Majority (58.3%) of the respondents revealed that they usually
request IC to go to government-owned hospitals for their HCT. The practice of mandatory HCT for intending
couples was significantly more common (93.5%) among respondents in non-indigenous churches than those
indigenous churches (85.5%). There was no significant association between the practice of mandatory HCT for
intending couples and nature of service rendered in church. The ways of handling situations in which one of the
IC is HIV sero-positive included counselling of the IC (20.2%), leaving IC to decide on their own (19.2%), referral
to a hospital (8.0%) and cancellation of wedding (5.7%). Some (37.0%) respondents reported that their churches
had some forms of support for PLWHA in their churches; a combination of prayer and counseling (74.9%) topped
the list of the forms of support provided by respondents for PLWHA. Most churches have an HIV component of
the premarital counseling services provided for intending couples in their churches with some promoting
mandatory HIV screening. However, intending couples are usually referred to formal health care facilities for
such tests or screening. Multiple educational interventions which include training and supportive supervision are
recommended to promote the adoption of ethically appropriate pre-marital counseling and referral of IC for testing
in their churches.
Keywords
Marriage counselors, HIV counseling and testing; Intending couples, Mandatory HIV testing, Disclosure of HIV test results
Download PDF