{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T00:58:39Z","timestamp":1792457919035,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,17]],"date-time":"2021-02-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1613520000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\"><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) of HIV and timely initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) can significantly reduce morbidity and mortality of HIV infected infants. Despite the benefits of early infant testing, the coverage of EID of HIV services is still low in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec002\"><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>To ascertain the factors that facilitate or hinder the delivery and uptake of EID of HIV services.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec003\"><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study is a cross-sectional exploratory qualitative research conducted in two health facilities in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Respondents (n = 50) comprising health workers (n = 20) and HIV positive mothers (n = 30) were purposively sampled and engaged in in-depth interviews. The Nvivo 11 software and the Braun and Clarke\u2019s stages of thematic analysis were used in coding data and data analysis respectively.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec004\"><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study found that health system factors such as inadequate Staff with sample collection skills, unavailability of vehicles to convey samples to the reference laboratory for analysis, the long turnaround time for receipt of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) results, inadequate and frequent breakdown of PCR machine hindered EID service delivery. On the other hand, adequate knowledge of health workers on EID, availability of Dried Blood Spot (DBS) cards and the adoption of task shifting strategies facilitated EID service delivery. Factors such as the denial of HIV status, non-completion of the EID process due to frustrations encountered whiles accessing service and delay in receipt of PCR results served as barriers to mother\u2019s utilisation of EID services for their exposed infants. The study also identified that adequate knowledge of EID, perceived importance of EID, financial stability as well as financial support from others and the positive attitudes of health workers facilitated HIV positive mother\u2019s uptake of EID services for their exposed infants.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec005\"><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The factors attributing to the low coverage of EID of HIV services must be promptly addressed to improve service delivery and uptake.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0246876","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,17]],"date-time":"2021-02-17T20:32:20Z","timestamp":1613593940000},"page":"e0246876","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Factors influencing the delivery and uptake of early infant diagnosis of HIV services in Greater Accra, Ghana: A qualitative study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8881-994X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Antoinette Kailey","family":"Ankrah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Phyllis","family":"Dako-Gyeke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,17]]},"reference":[{"issue":"Suppl 6","key":"pone.0246876.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20745","DOI":"10.7448\/IAS.18.7.20745","article-title":"Targeting 90-90-90\u2014don\u2019t leave children and adolescents behind","volume":"18","author":"M-A Davies","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Int AIDS Soc"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0246876.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2141","DOI":"10.1007\/s10461-016-1404-z","article-title":"Predictors of Infant Age at Enrollment in Early Infant Diagnosis Services in Kenya","volume":"20","author":"K Goggin","year":"2016","journal-title":"AIDS Behav"},{"key":"pone.0246876.ref003","author":"UNAIDS","year":"2016","journal-title":"CHILDREN AND HIV"},{"key":"pone.0246876.ref004","article-title":"HIV \/ AIDS Programme WHO RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE DIAGNOSIS OF HIV INFECTION IN INFANTS","volume":"64","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2010","journal-title":"Who Publ"},{"key":"pone.0246876.ref005","article-title":"Symptoms and stages of HIV infection | AVERT","author":"Avert","year":"2017"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0246876.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"116","DOI":"10.7196\/SAJCH.2016.v10i2.982","article-title":"Barriers, facilitators and recommendations for the early infant diagnosis and treatment (EIDT) cascade: A qualitative study in Malawi","volume":"10","author":"EA Bobrow","year":"2016","journal-title":"SAJCH South African J Child Heal"},{"key":"pone.0246876.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1186\/1741-7015-9-59","article-title":"Early infant HIV-1 diagnosis programs in resource-limited settings: opportunities for improved outcomes and more cost-effective interventions","volume":"9","author":"AL Ciaranello","year":"2011","journal-title":"BMC Med"},{"key":"pone.0246876.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2018.00139","article-title":"Accessibility of Early Infant Diagnostic Services by Under-5 Years and HIV Exposed Children in Muheza District, North-East Tanzania","volume":"6","author":"VM Bwana","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front public Heal"},{"key":"pone.0246876.ref009","unstructured":"UNAIDS. 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