Background: Nigeria has the second largest HIV epidemic in the world and one of the highest rates of new infection in sub – Saharan Africa. It is estimated that 58% of persons living with HIV are women. The prevalence of HIV in Nigeria is 1.4 %, the apparent decline has been attributed to better surveillance.
Aim: To determine the prevalence of HIV amongst ante natal clinic (ANC) attendees at booking at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Method: This was a cross sectional study of ANC attendees at the RSUTH, from January 1st to June 31st, 2019. They were antenatal clinic attendees who were systematically selected, obtained informed consents with ethical approval. A structured questionnaire, information obtained by self reporting. The information was clean and analyzed using SPSS version 25.
Result: Five hundred women were attended to at booking in the antenatal clinic of the RSUTH 12 (2.4%) had incomplete data because they defaulted, 488 pregnant women were involved in the study had HAART. The mean age was 31.44 years and the modal parity was para 0. Three hundred and fifty-seven (73.2%) of the respondents had tertiary level of education, 126(25.8%) respondents had secondary level of education while 5 (1%) of the respondents had primary level of education. Five (1%) of the respondents could not place their educational status. Four hundred and fifty two (92.6%) of the respondents were HIV negative, 23 (4.7%) were HIV positive.
Conclusion: The study revealed that prevalence of HIV amongst ANC attendees at the RSUTH was high (4.7%). There is need to step up surveillance amongst ANC attendees who are reflection of the populace in this region.
Keywords: Prevalence, HIV, ANC attendees, Nigeria
