Barriers Access to HIV Testing and Treatment Services in the District of Purba Medinipur, West Bengal; India – Focus Group Discussion

Background: Services provided on HIV testing, treatment and care toward clients were not adequate in the district of Purba Medinipur. We aimed to recognize those barriers and recommended for improvement of utilization of HIV related services. Method: Focus group discussion (FGD) were conducted among the homogenous groups of female sex workers (FSW), migrant labourers, truckers, peer educators (PE) and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) of the district of Purba Medinipur between February and April 2013. Result: Fifteen FGDs were carried out involving 151 participants. The mean age of the participants were 33.68 years with range from 18 – 57 years. More than 60% (91) were female participants. Migrant labourers and truckers had no adequate knowledge about HIV prevention, they did not know about Integrated Counseling & Testing Center (ICTC) services, Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) services. Female Sex Workers (FSW) and People living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) indicated long distance to attend ICTC, long distance and long waiting time at ART center. Short supply of ART medicines forced them frequent visit at ART center caused increased pocket expenditure. Participants mentioned about fear of disclosure of HIV positive status psychologically created negative influences on client's mind which might reluctant to access HIV services. Most of participants indicated about discrimination in family, community and at working place due to HIV positive status. Conclusion: Implement HIV care services for the vulnerable peoples at their close proximity and improving the quality of the existing health care delivery services would be helpful to overcome multiple barriers about utilization of services.