Background
In Cameroon, HIV prevalence among youths (15-24 years) ranges between 0.7 and 1.7% and about 26.5% of youths living with HIV have unwanted pregnancies. Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services are widely available, and their optimal utilization will reduce these high rates of HIV/STI transmission and unplanned pregnancies. The level of knowledge of this population and their uptake of SRH services is unknown. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of adolescents and young adults living with HIV about SRH services and their uptake in the Northwest region of Cameroon.
Methods
This cross-sectional study received the administrative authorization of the Delegation of Northwest and CBCHB IRB approval (IRB2021-77). We sequentially sampled adolescents and young adults living with HIV who were receiving ART care at 16 treatment sites in the Northwest region. Anonymous data was collected from consented participants between February and April 2022 using a structured questionnaire including questions on knowledge and uptake of SRH counseling, pregnancy prevention and STI prevention services. The data entered into excel, cleaned and analyzed using Stata version 14.0.
Results
A total of 340 participants completed the questionnaire, the majority (70%) of whom were female, 62% were adolescents, and participants were equally distributed in urban and rural settings. Averagely, knowledge was 71% for SRH counseling, 78% for pregnancy prevention, and 78% for STIs prevention services. Uptake of these services was averagely 78%, 70% and 76% respectively. The overall knowledge of participants on SHR services was 78% and uptake of the services was 58%.
Conclusion
Overall, SRH knowledge was estimated at 78% and its uptake at 58%. This low level of knowledge which is consistent with the low service uptake suggests the need for more sensitization and education on SHR services which is key to influencing uptake of the services and consequently reducing unintended pregnancies and HIV/STIs transmission.