BackgroundMany reports point to the beneficial effect of male partner involvement in programs for the prevention of mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in curbing pediatric HIV infections. This paper summarizes the barriers and facilitators of male involvement in prevention programs of mother-to-child-transmission of HIV.MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) for studies published in English from 1998 to March 2012. We included studies conducted in a context of antenatal care or PMTCT of HIV reporting male actions that affected female uptake of PMTCT services. We did not target any specific interventions for this review.ResultsWe identified 24 studies from peer-reviewed journals; 21 from sub-Saharan Africa, 2 from Asia and 1 from Europe. Barriers to male PMTCT involvement were mainly at the level of the society, the health system and the individual. The most pertinent was the societal perception of antenatal care and PMTCT as a woman’s activity, and it was unacceptable for men to be involved. Health system factors such as long waiting times at the antenatal care clinic and the male unfriendliness of PMTCT services were also identified. The lack of communication within the couple, the reluctance of men to learn their HIV status, the misconception by men that their spouse’s HIV status was a proxy of theirs, and the unwillingness of women to get their partners involved due to fear of domestic violence, stigmatization or divorce were among the individual factors.Actions shown to facilitate male PMTCT involvement were either health system actions or factors directly tied to the individuals. Inviting men to the hospital for voluntary counseling and HIV testing and offering of PMTCT services to men at sites other than antenatal care were key health system facilitators. Prior knowledge of HIV and prior male HIV testing facilitated their involvement. Financial dependence of women was key to facilitating spousal involvement.ConclusionsThere is need for health system amendments and context-specific adaptations of public policy on PMTCT services to break down the barriers to and facilitate male PMTCT involvement.Trial RegistrationThe protocol for this review was registered with the International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) record CRD42011001703.

Adolescent pregnancies are associated with both adverse fetal and maternal outcomes in Cameroon. Improving compliance with prenatal care could significantly reduce the frequency of adverse fetal outcomes in adolescent populations in Cameroon.

Intimate partner violence appears to be associated with increased contraception use in the African setting. Among women who have experienced IPV, modern contraception is used more commonly than traditional and folkloric contraceptive methods.

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BackgroundFew studies have evaluated the prevalence of HBV in the general Cameroonian population or among antenatal attendants. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, correlates and patterns of Hepatitis B surface antigen among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Yaounde-Cameroon.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional multicenter study carried out in a referral hospital and two secondary hospitals in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. The study lasted 15 months (March 2011 to June 2012), and recruited 959 pregnant women. Patient recruitment was consecutive. The HBsAg was tested using the Monalisa HBsAg Ultra ELISA kit. Other hepatitis B markers were equally tested.We used the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 14.0 software to conduct a quantitative analysis of the derived data. Simple descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations, and proportions were used to describe the data. We tested for association in categorical variables using the chi-squared (χ2) test. The odds ratio (OR) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were used to summarise the strength of association between specific binary exposure and outcome variables. The level of statistical significance for the study was set at p < 0.05.ResultsThe prevalence of hepatitis B infection (HBsAg) among antenatal clinic attenders in our setting was 7.7%. Amongst these women, just 5.4% were previously aware of their HBsAg status. The rate of HBV infectivity was high, with 28% of HBsAg positive women having evidence of HBeAg in their plasma, and up to 45.8% of these women lacking antibodies against hepatitis B e antigen (anti-HBe). About 41% of the pregnant women had had previous contact with HBV as evidenced by the positive status for anti-HBc.Just 2.7% of the pregnant women had previously been vaccinated against HBV. The mean age for HBsAg positivity in our setting was 26.9 ±4.7 years, and the most affected age group was the 25 – 29 years age group. There was no statistically significant association between age or other socio-demographic risk factors and HBsAg status. Numerous risk factors for HBV acquisition exists in our settings, but amongst these, only a history of a contact with hepatitis B infection was found to be significantly associated with HBsAg positivity (OR 1.63, 95% C.I 1.15-2.30). Finally, the coinfection rate of HBV/HIV was 0.74%.ConclusionThe prevalence of hepatitis B among pregnant women in Cameroon is high, and the pattern tends towards high infectivity and therefore increased risk of perinatal HBV transmission. These highlight the need to step up preventive efforts against hepatitis B infection and perinatal HBV transmission in our community.