This study aimed to investigate the level of knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS testing among pregnant women at healthcare centers in Tripoli. All of the pregnant women in this study were aware of HIV/AIDS; approximately 377 (98.2%) of the total respondents had heard of HIV/AIDS, which is comparable to findings in Addis Ababa, Egypt, and Iran17, 18,19. The tests are effective at minimizing transmission from mother to child, according to 71.6% of respondents, and 85.2% were aware that every pregnant woman should be tested for HIV. These findings are consistent with those of Yeshaneh et al. 2023 and Chandisarewa et al. 2007, 20,21. In the present study, 51.8% of the respondents had a bachelor’s degree, while 38.8% and 4.7% had an intermediate or elementary education, respectively. This might imply that the populace is fully informed about HIV/AIDS testing. On the other hand, both educated and non-formal schooling groups should be included in a more extensive community survey to assess their understanding of HIV/AIDS testing. Furthermore, this is encouraging and may be ascribed to the excessive Internet use by all age groups in society, including pregnant women, or through media such as radio and television. Additionally, Libya's HIV program goal is for people with HIV to know their status and receive related treatments23. As a result, the sources of information that society depends on when searching for HIV/AIDS themes, which is why attention must be given to the media materials offered to society and national media campaign efforts to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS testing, should be reviewed. In this study, our findings agreed on the importance of knowing about HIV status during pregnancy, which is similar to the findings of a study performed in Southeast Ethiopia 19 and Nigeria 17.
Three hundred seventy-seven of the participants knew that HIV is transmitted from mother to child, and they knew that pregnant women should undergo prenatal monitoring. Concerning HIV/AIDS medication, 201 (52.3%) women knew that ART medicines were given to HIV-positive pregnant mothers to reduce the risk of HIV transmission. These findings contrast with those of a cross-sectional study performed in Eastern Ethiopia, which showed that two hundred forty-two of the participants knew that HIV is transmitted from mother to child. Concerning the duration of transmission of the virus from the infected mother to her child, 194 (80.2%) responded that it could be during pregnancy, 168 (69.4%) during labor and delivery, and 172 (71.9%) through breastfeeding25. Another study revealed that 90% of the respondents were aware that HIV infection could coexist with pregnancy, and a significantly lower proportion (68%) were aware of mother-to-child transmission of HIV 26. Moreover, in our study, 82.6% of respondents knew their status, and they had been tested for HIV more than once; this finding is consistent with a study performed by Lette 2019 and Aishat & Olubunmi, 2016 17,27. This difference may be due to health information dissemination and geographical location differences. Additionally, HIV/AIDS testing was not performed every three months for 88.3% of the pregnant women. These findings suggest that there is no policy for antenatal care centers to advise about the importance of HIV testing, especially in the first trimester; however, even if women receive advice, the tests, including other tests, are expensive and are not expensive. These findings are not consistent with the findings of a study in Cairo 28, which revealed that 86.4% of participants had initiated ANC during the first trimester and had HIV tested. Additionally, a study performed in Mozambique showed that 75.4% of patients received HIV tests during ANC visits, although Mozambique is a low-income country with poor coverage of healthcare services29. Therefore, the study of the economic factors associated with antenatal care and HIV screening is needed, with particular policy and research attention.
Overall, the knowledge level of respondents about HIV/AIDS was found to be discouraging, as the majority (47.9%) had good knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS testing for pregnant women. The results of the present study contradicted those of a study performed in Egypt, which revealed that 72.2% of the participants had high knowledge of the subject, as did those of studies in Ghana, where the overall level of knowledge was 61.6%. Approximately 93.6% of the respondents were knowledgeable about participating in a study performed in Southeast Ethiopia 17.
In summary, this study demonstrated a low level of knowledge of HIV/AIDS testing among pregnant women. This might be due to the accessibility of information, utilization of the service, availability of health facilities, economic impact, geographical differences, and the fact that in our environment, the opinion of male partners strongly influences women's uptake of health policies and programs. Thus, a more robust baseline assessment of knowledge for the purpose of reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV also requires the participation of men31.
Limitations:
This study has several limitations, such as the lack of response bias in the data and the inability to investigate other factors that may affect pregnant women's ability to gain access to HIV testing during pregnancy.