TITLE:
Does HIV Status Affect Utilization of Maternal Care Services among Women in India: An Analysis of NFHS 2005-2006
AUTHORS:
Vasudevan Jayachandran, Damodar Sahu, Subramanian Rajaram, Bo Pedersen
KEYWORDS:
HIV-Positive, Total Fertility Rate, Reproductive Health, NFHS
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of AIDS,
Vol.5 No.2,
June
3,
2015
ABSTRACT: The objective of the study is to understand
the relationship between HIV status, fertility and utilisa-tion of maternal
care services in India using the NFHS 2005-2006 data. The mean number of
children ever born (a measure of fertility) is substantially higher among
HIV-negative women than among the HIV-positive women (2.8 and 2.1
respectively). Ten-year age specific fertility rates (ASFR) were calculated,
there is no noticeable difference in pattern of ASFR between HIV-positive and
HIV-negative category of women observed though the ASFRs were substantially
lower among the HIV-positive women. The total fertility rate (TFR) among
HIV-positive women (0.84) is substantially lower at one third of the TFR among
HIV-negative women (2.78). The proportion of HIV-positive pregnant women
utilising ANC services is 92 percent compared to 78 percent among HIV-negative
women, who have alive birth during the 5-year preceding the survey. Similarly,
the proportion of HIV-positive women (67%) delivering their babies in an institution
is also much higher than among HIV-negative women (40%). This study concludes
that the effort of the government to integrate ART services with maternity care
services is likely to have benefited the HIV positive mothers.