Disclosure of Hiv status to sexual partners among people who ...

esults (Maman et al., 2003; Kassaye et al., 2005). TASO therefore should promote
sharing of experiences by individuals who feared to disclose to partners due to
anticipated negative reactions but managed to overcome this and were able to disclose.
Secondly, the findings suggest that the decision to either remain in or break up a
relationship after HIV status disclosure by a partner is not necessarily dictated by the
disclosure of positive results but rather other factors like the attitude and commitment of
the partners. Similar findings were observed in another study in USA by Ateka (2006).
Service providers should explore the client’s level of comfort with disclosure of HIV
status to significant persons in life such as partners, family members or friends. The client
should be encouraged to disclose only when the client feels it is safe to disclose. The
counsellors also need to be equipped with skills in facilitating disclosure .It is not enough
to tell clients about benefits and disadvantages of disclosure. Where supported disclosure
is required, counsellors should be skilled enough to provide the service or appropriately
counsel the client on which approach to use. In discordant relationships therefore, the
counsellor should make an effort to provide information that is convincing to the negative
partner. Community sensitisation, couple counselling and HBHCT are among some of
the strategies that could strengthen social support and self disclosure for PLHIV.
5.4 Motivations for Disclosure
The participants who disclosed their sero status to their partners were motivated by the
desire for partner to get treatment, need for partner’s support, prior knowledge of
partner’s HIV status, anger and anxiety about the future.
Knowing the partner’s positive HIV status eased disclosure of one’s own status to the
partner. This implies that discussing with one’s partner about testing prior to seeking the
service might help clients to anticipate partner’s reaction and give them opportunity to
plan how to disclose as observed in studies in Tanzania and USA (Maman et al., 2003;
Niccolai et al., 2006; Simbayi et al., 2007).
The findings also reveal that the patterns of disclosure varied by type of relationship. The
clients who were married and were living together with their partners found it easier to
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