<p>Perceived Barriers Toward Provider-Initiated HIV Testing and Counseling (PITC) in Pediatric Clinics: A Qualitative Study Involving Two Regional Hospitals in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania</p>

Caregiver fears and assumptions about child HIV status drive not testing children for HIV

“…Fear of an HIV diagnosis could be a substantial barrier to accessing care and HIV testing for all children, regardless of their HIV status [10]. Although previous studies have highlighted facility-level barriers to pediatric HIV testing, including lack of testing supplies [9,11], we found that only 5% of caregivers reported their primary reason for not testing was not being offered a test. Caregiver-level barriers were more important than facility-level barriers in our study, consistent with findings of a previous study [12].…”

Brief Report: Pediatric Saliva-Based HIV Testing: Health care Worker and Caregiver Acceptability

“…26 Barriers to facility-based provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling include shortage of HCWs and overcrowding of clinics. 27 A recent study found that HIV self-testing in facilities resulted in higher uptake of HIV testing in outpatient settings among adolescents and adults. 28 Facility-based or other SBT approaches that involve posttest counseling could reduce concerns about SBT self-testing and ensure that caregivers receive appropriate counseling.…”

The Shinyanga Patient: A Patient’s Journey through HIV Treatment Cascade in Rural Tanzania

“…Rural dwellers usually had more limited access to basic health services due to fewer health centers over a wide geographical area and the consequent long distances to access health services [61]. A follow-up to this is the lack of basic amenities, such as essential medicines, equipment, adequate staff, and laboratory services in most dispensaries and health centers representing the health facilities most widely spread in the rural areas [62][63][64][65]. Limited availability of services has also been revealed in terms of inflexible work hours [58,62].…”