“Even if she’s really sick at home, she will pretend that everything is fine.”: Delays in seeking care and treatment for advanced HIV disease in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Emilie Venables, Ilse Casteels, Elysée Manziasi Sumbi and Eric Goemaere

PLOS ONE, 2019, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-12

Abstract: Introduction: HIV prevalence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is estimated to be 1.2%, and access to HIV testing and treatment remains low across the country. Despite advances in treatment, HIV continues to be one of the main reasons for hospitalisation and death in low- and middle-income countries, including DRC, but the reasons why people delay seeking health-care when they are extremely sick remain little understood. People in Kinshasa, DRC, continue to present to health-care facilities in an advanced stage of HIV when they are close to death and needing intensive treatment. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in one health-care facility in Kinshasa. A total of 24 in-depth interviews with purposively selected health-care workers, patients and care-givers were conducted. Patients were currently or previously hospitalised with advanced HIV, defined as CD4 count

Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0211619

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211619

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