Acceptability of HIV Testing and Counseling by Antenatal Clients of a Tertiary Institution

Background: HIV testing and counseling (HTC) plays a central role in specific prevention of moth-er-to-child transmission (PMTCT) interventions, as these interventions depend on the woman knowing her HIV status. Over ninety percent of HIV infection in children is acquired through mother-to-child transmission. Objectives: This study assessed pregnant women’s knowledge of HIV/AIDS, their awareness of HIV testing and counseling, and compared the uptake of HTC to the previously practiced voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) in a teaching hospital in northern Ni-geria. Materials and Methods: A pre-tested, structured interview questionnaire was administered on a cross-section survey of 270 antenatal clients in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Nigeria. Information about knowledge of HIV/AIDS and attitude towards HTC was eli-cited among respondents. Results: Eighty-nine percent of respondents were aware of HIV/AIDS. The knowledge of route of disease transmission was high, with 87.4 % and 81.1 % of study partici-pants mentioning sexual activity and mother-to-child transmission, respectively. Majority of res-pondents (98.9%) were aware of HTC and approved of it (91.1%) while 7.8 % declined and the remaining 1.1 % were undecided. Fourteen percent of respondents didn’t approve of retesting i