Factors Influencing the Uptake of HIV Testing During Antenatal Care inRural Uganda

Despite critics of the ‘opt-out’ policy surrounding HIV testing during antenatal care visits in Uganda suggesting that women may be deterred from seeking antenatal care at facilities with on-site testing, empirical evidence suggests the acceptability of HIV testing during antenatal care has been significantly increasing over the last decade. Furthermore, there is a disconnect between high rates of antenatal care and low rates of facility births implying that there are other reasons women use antenatal care besides to prepare for a facility delivery. The aim of this paper is to investigate the role HIV testing has in the high rates of antenatal care uptake in Uganda. A focused ethnographic study was undertaken in two areas of Kabarole district between the period of September 2009 and January 2010. Data collection consisted of in-depth interviews, focus groups and participant observation.