Sexual and family planning practices and needs of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria: a rapid ethnographic assessment.

BACKGROUND This study was conducted among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) and it tries to understand their sexual and reproductive lives, with the aim of understanding what they know about reproductive health, social challenges of life they face daily and what are their needs. METHOD The study was conducted in the Northern state of Kaduna, Nigeria; a qualitative approach was employed using group interviews, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Individual PLWHAs, their associations and officials of the associations were interviewed. RESULTS People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) are a group of people whose life has not been studied very well, they have a lot of pressing social issues such as their circumstances of diagnosis, bad experiences following the diagnosis, and lack of adequate provisions for their healthcare. They wish to see their welfare addressed with provision of drugs and social support. CONCLUSION PLWHAs and their associations expressed concerns about how they are treated by both medical workers and the society. There is need to address these issues in the way of research aimed at changing the views of policy makers favourably.