Disclosure of HIV status among clients in two clinics at the Joe Gqabi District, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

The aim of this study was to explore and describe disclosure of HIV status among HIV-positive clients of two public clinics in the Eastern Cape Province. The sample consisted of 40 randomly selected HIV-positive participants. Data were collected through interviews and analysed using SPSS 17.0 software for Windows. Chi-square testing was used to determine the difference in disclosure between males and females. The results of the study indicated that most 67% of the participants did not disclose their HIV status because of for fear of discrimination (19%), stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, and fear of losing friends. Those who wanted to deliberately infect others were 22%, while the other participants (19%) maintained that there was no point in disclosing their status. A high proportion (74%) of female participants did not disclose their status, compared to males (26%). The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The participants who disclosed their HIV-positive status (33%) stated two main reasons: (1) They wanted someone to know that they had acquired the AIDS virus and, (2) in order to get support from significant others. While 62% of the participants disclosed to significant others such as family members, but did not disclose to their sexual partners for fear of rejection. In general, only 38% disclosed their status to their sexual partners. HIV positive clients in Joe Gqabi clinics are reluctant to disclose their status for fear of negative reactions such as discrimination and rejection. Conversely, non-disclosure negates the efforts of health professionals to reduce the spread of the HIV and ADIS. Strategies to promote disclosure of HIV status should be implemented in order to curb the spread of the disease.Key words: HIV/AIDS, status disclosure, reasons, prevention