Publications

Family planning (FP) is a voluntary and informed decision by an individual or couple on the number of children to have and whento have them, by use of modern or natural methods. In sub-Saharan Africa, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) get unplannedpregnancies and experience negative effects of pregnancy on their health, which leads to poor obstetric outcomes, progression ofHIV, and new vertical pediatric HIV infections. Effective utilization of FP services by PLWHA can help address such emergingpublic reproductive health concerns and overall improve maternal and child health outcomes in general. This study determinedfactors that affect the utilization of modern family planning services among women of reproductive age living with HIV/AIDSreceiving care at Rukunyu Hospital, Kamwenge District. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in Rukunyu HospitalHIV clinic, Kamwenge District involving 309 women of reproductive age. Data was collected using a structured researcheradministeredquestionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Approximately 60% (212) of women of reproductive age livingwith HIV were using modern contraceptives. The majority of respondents were aged 20-29 years (50.6 %), and commonly usedinjectables (56.7%) from the hospital family planning clinic (47.3%). Protestant women who had more than four children, completedtertiary education and those who had been counseled about family planning were more likely to utilize modern family planningmethods than their counterparts in other religious faith and social categories. There were low levels of utilization of contraceptives,with injectables as the most used method, and family planning counseling was associated with increased contraceptive uptakeamong women with HIV. More efforts are needed to sensitize and provide modern contraceptives targeting the illiterate, youthunder 20 years, and believers from different religious sects to increase utilization among women of reproductive age living withHIV.