Factors of Failure of Community Interventions of PMTCT Activities in Haut Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

The objective of the study was to identify the failure factors of community interventions in terms of HIV activities in the province of Haut-Katanga during the year 2016. Materials and Methods: The study was phenomenological of the factors, carried out in Haut Katanga. All health facilities (FOSAs) having integrated the prevention of transmission of HIV infection from mother to child (PMTCT) were included in the study. The collection was carried out through individual semi-structured interviews with PMTCT focal points, mentor mothers and people living with HIV (PLWHA) cared for in some of these health facilities (FOSAs). The number of participants was determined by the saturation of responses. Nvivo v.11 software was used for the analyses. The data of each woman was handled confidentially. The authorization of the ethics committee of the University of Kinshasa ESP/CE091/2015, the free and written consent, was obtained before collecting the information. Results: It was observed the socio-cultural factors of success and failure of the interventions: the social fear generated by contradictory messages in the sensitization of the community; the lack of an obvious strategy for the involvement of the partner; the weak coordination of community care activities between the central office of the health zone; the FOSA and the community worker: low interest in community care evidenced by weak accountability of FOSAs, community and program providers in this regard; that relates to community activities; coordination of care between care units; overload of the staff in charge of activities within the health structure and their low motivation; the low communication time devoted to people living with HIV in the FOSAs. Conclusion: The study shows that interventions that can improve the quality and outcomes of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services can be directly linked to the program itself, as well as come from another or the community, which generally remains the weak link in which efforts are even less noticeable, at least as far as PMTCT is concerned. Integrating care data for the mother-child couple improve the continuum of services between the different care units as well as the quality of data management.