Abstract:
Involvement of male partners may increase adherence to and improve outcomes of
programs to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT). Greater understanding of
factors impeding male voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) is needed. A crosssectional
study was conducted in Tshwane, South Africa. Semi-structured interviews were
completed with men whose partners had recently been pregnant. Of 124 men who
participated, 94% believed male HIV testing was important, but 40% had never been
tested. Of those tested, 32% were tested during the pregnancy, while 37% were tested
afterward. Fifty-eight percent of men reported that their female partners had disclosed their test results during pregnancy. A man’s likelihood of testing during pregnancy was
associated with prior discussion of testing in PMTCT, knowing the female partner had
tested, and her disclosure of the test result (all p < 0.05). In terms of increasing malepartner
HIV testing rates, 74% of the men reported they would respond favorably to a
written invitation for VCT from their partners. Based on themes that emerged during the
interviews, six partner invitation cards to encourage male involvement in PMTCT were
designed. Responses to the cards were elicited from 158 men and 409 women. One
invitation card framed by the themes of fatherhood and the baby was selected by 41% of
men and 31% of women as the most likely for women undergoing PMTCT to bring to their
male partners and the most successful at encouraging men to be tested. In conclusion, this
study found that a substantial proportion of men whose partners were recently pregnant had
never been tested themselves; of those who had tested, most had done so only after the
pregnancy. Encouraging partner communication and clinic attendance using an invitation
card could facilitate increased male testing and participation in PMTCT.
