Tabbatacciyar Kulawar Iyali: Adaptation of the Baby Shower Congregation-based Intervention for Maternal HIV Testing in Predominantly Muslim Communities in Nigeria

Abstract

A significant number of children in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) still acquire HIV from mothers living with HIV due to low coverage of maternal HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy. In Nigeria, the effectiveness of the Healthy Beginning Initiative (HBI) in preventing mother-to-child transmission. interventions have been shown in controlled clinical trials and research to program translation in predominantly Christian populations. We report on our adaptation and implementation of the HBI congregational approach (the Tabbatacciyar Kulawar Iyali Initiative) and the result on HIV case identifications among pregnant women living in a predominantly Muslim setting in Northern. Overall, 15,302 pregnant women were tested for HIV, and 25 tested HIV positive via the Tabbatacciyar Kulawar Iyali Initiative. Our result demonstrates the feasibility and potential effectiveness of a community-based PMTCT intervention using an adapted HBI approach in a predominantly Muslim setting.