Article Sidebar
Published:
Jan 20, 2014Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
Patient-initiated sexual partner notification in Botswana and time taken for sexual contacts to report for treatment
Abstract
Objectives. To determine the time taken by sexual partners to report to a health facility after they had been notified by the index patient, and the distribution of STI syndromes among the treated index patients who had their sexual partners treated.
Methods. All available contact slips of the treated sexual partners from 19 health districts in Botswana were reviewed. The study period was July 2010 to June 2011 inclusive.
Results. The partner notification slips showed that 77.9% (1 238/1 590) of sexual contacts sought medical attention at government health facilities within 7 days of treating the index patient. Records showed that 47.3% (752/1 590) of the index patients were treated for vaginal discharge syndrome.
Conclusion. A high proportion of sexual contacts were treated within 7 days of treating the index patient. Considering this short period, we conclude that Botswana’s recommended 30-day period for consulting sexual partners needs to be revised downwards, so as to reduce the chances of reinfections, complications and transmission of STIs in the community.
