MethadoneMaintenance Treatment Promotes Referral and Uptake of HIV Testing and Counselling Services amongst Drug Users and Their Partners

• Main Author: Nguyen, Hoang Long
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Plos one 2016
• Online Access: http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/handle/VNU_123/11467
• Institution: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Background Methadonemaintenance treatment (MMT) reduces HIV risk behaviors and improves access to HIV-related services among drug users. In this study, we assessed the uptake and willingness of MMT patients to refer HIV testing and counseling (HTC) service to their sexual partners and relatives. Methods Health status, HIV-related risk behaviors, and HTC uptake and referrals of 1,016MMT patients in Hanoi and Nam Dinh were investigated. Willingness to pay (WTP) for HTC was elicited using a contingent valuation technique. Interval and logistic regressionmodels were employed to determine associated factors. Results Most of the patients (94.2%) had received HTC, 6.6 times on average. The proportion of respondents willing to refer their partners, their relatives and to be voluntary peer educators was 45.7%, 35.3%, and 33.3%, respectively. AttendingMMT integrated with HTC was a facilitative factor for HTC uptake, greater WTP, and volunteering as peer educators. Older age, higher education and income, and HIV positive status were positively related to willing-ness to refer partners or relatives, while having health problems (mobility, usual care, pain/ discomfort) was associated with lower likelihood of referring others or being a volunteer. Over 90% patients were willing to pay an average of US $17.9 for HTC service. PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0152804 April 5, 2016 1/16 OPENACCESS Citation:Tran BX, Nguyen LH, Nguyen LP, Nguyen CT, Phan HTT, Latkin CA (2016) Methadone Maintenance Treatment Promotes Referral and Uptake of HIV Testing and Counselling Services amongst Drug Users and Their Partners. PLoS ONE 11(4): e0152804. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0152804 Editor:Gabriele Fischer, Medical University of Vienna, AUSTRIA Received:August 8, 2015 Accepted:February 25, 2016 Published:April 5, 2016 Copyright:© 2016 Tran et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement:Data are available from the Authority of HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC). However, since the Government of Vietnam issues the Law on HIV/AIDS, all information of HIV-affected people is confidential and can not be shared. Requests for data on this study may be submitted to VAAC and should go through the review process by the Scientific and Ethic Research Committee. The contact people for requesting data use is Dr. Phan Thi Thu Huong, email [e-mail], Deputy Director in Research of the Vietnam Authority of HIV/AIDS Control, Ministry of Health, Vietnam. Conclusion The results highlighted the potential role of MMT patients as referrers to HTC and voluntary peer educators. Integrating HIV testing withMMT services and applying users’ fee are potential strategies tomobilize resources and encourage HIV testing amongMMT patients and their partners