Clinical Implications of HIV Treatment and Prevention for Polygamous Families in Kenya and Uganda: "My Co-Wife Is the One Who Used to Encourage Me"

Overview

Journal J Int Assoc Provid AIDS Care

Publisher Sage Publications

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2024 May 16

PMID 38751360

Authors

Jason Johnson-Peretz

Anjeline Onyango

Sarah A Gutin

Laura Balzer

Cecilia Akatukwasa

Lawrence Owino

Titus M O Arunga

Fred Atwine

Maya Petersen

Moses Kamya

James Ayieko

Ted Ruel

Diane Havlir

Carol S Camlin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Polygamy is the practice of marriage to multiple partners. Approximately 6-11% of households in Uganda and 4-11% of households in Kenya are polygamous. The complex families produced by polygamous marriage customs give rise to additional considerations for healthcare providers and public health messaging around HIV care. Using 27 in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews with participants in two studies in rural Kenya and Uganda, we analysed challenges and opportunities that polygamous families presented in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of HIV, and provider roles in improving HIV outcomes in these families. Overall, prevention methods seemed more justifiable to families where co-wives live far apart than when all members live in the same household. In treatment, diagnosis of one member did not always lead to disclosure to other members, creating an adverse home environment; but sometimes diagnosis of one wife led not only to diagnosis of the other, but also to greater household support.

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