... in Berlin, Germany was a valuable opportunity for me to present the results of my research study in the rural Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu, India. This research was part of my master's of public health internship.  Students from Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Africa attended this conference and presented research from all fields of medicine, as well as public health. Many of the studies focused on smoking during pregnancy, Type II diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Presentations were divided into categories and presented to an expert panel in that subject area.  I presented my study in the public health category along with 17 other students.  

I chose to work in Tamil Nadu, India because it has one of the highest numbers of HIV/AIDS cases of all the states in India, and people living with HIV/AIDS are among the most marginalized communities in the state.  The study evaluated the relationship of self-efficacy and actual social-support to adherence of recommended Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS methods at three PMTCT centers in Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu. Women were asked about reproductive history, knowledge of PMTCT methods, adherence to PMTCT methods, actual received social support, self-efficacy, and perceived barriers to care. 

Higher self-efficacy was significantly related to accurate knowledge about PMTCT methods.  Lower self-efficacy was significantly related to having one or more HIV positive children.  Support groups and self-help groups, proven to increase self-efficacy, may improve knowledge of PMTCT methods among women.  Higher received social support was significantly related to increased adherence.  Lower social support is associated with lower socioeconomic status and empowerment programs that include vocational training, and microfinance lending may indirectly improve adherence to PMTCT methods.  No significant predictors of perceived barriers to care were found.

Many people at the conference were very interested in the content of this study because it was conducted in India.  Presenting this research study to students from around the world was very rewarding.  This research study was done under the auspices of the BRAVO! program funded by the MHIRT grant to the University of Arizona (MD001427).

Anandani Nellan, MD/PhD and BRAVO! Student.   Dr. Iman Hakim, is Anandani's adviser at the UA and her BRAVO! sponsor in India was Dr. S. Parameshwari