Abstract
Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) issues among Adolescents Living with HIV (ALHIV) in Gweru rural district in Zimbabwe.
Design: A cross sectional mixed method research design was used with qualitative and quantitative methods.
Setting: The study was conducted in Gweru rural district community.
Subjects: A total of 112 questionnaires were administered to ALHIV, four focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with ALHIV in Gweru rural district, and six key informant interviews with key informants were held at district and national levels.
Results: All respondents were not in relationships, while 94 percent lacked general understanding of relationships. All respondents reported that they were not sexually active, although 62 percent intend to have sex in future. Seventy-eight percent lacked comprehensive knowledge of HIV transmission. Respondents were aware of few modern contraception methods namely female condoms (39 percent), male condoms (37 percent) and the pill (25 percent). Adolescents Living with HIV (ALHIV) mainly access HIV related services in Gweru rural district. There is limited access to SRH services besides HIV treatment as 41 percent of ALHIV reported talking to a health service provider about SRH issues such as sexuality, family planning, condoms, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy and childbearing.
Conclusion: The key SRH issues facing ALHIV include lack of comprehensive knowledge on SRH issues, such as sexuality, relationships, prevention of HIV re-infection, pregnancy and childbearing and family planning. There is also limited access to SRH services. Adolescents living with HIV in Gweru rural district face barriers to accessing SRH services at policy, programmatic, community, family and individual levels.