Start-off HIV/AIDS clinic situation and patient's socio-demographic data in a northern Nigerian hospital

The aim of this study was to determine the HIV/AIDS clinic situation and patients’ socio-demographic data at start-off in a northern Nigerian hospital. Data was collected from clinic records and patients’ folders covering the period between September 2004 and August 2005 and analysed with SPSS. Thirty-four clinics were held for 497 registered persons who made 2,047 attendances. The patients were attended to by 5 doctors, 2 counsellors, 4 pharmacists, 2 nurses and 2 laboratory scientists. Clinics held which hit the 100% weekly mark by June 2005, have since become twice a week. Most of the patient population were female (58.6%), and married (73.5%). The vast majority were in their work-productive years – 20s (23.4%), 30s (41.9%) and 40s (26.2%), although more than half (53.7%) were unemployed. The patients were equally distributed between the two predominant religions – Christianity and Islam. That most of the patients were Hausa by tribe, from Kaduna State in the North-West Geo-political Zone, and resident in Zaria was adjudged to be incidental and due to the location of the hospital. Availability of antiretroviral drugs and regular holding of clinics is very crucial in the management of HIV/AIDS patients, hence current trend of 100% clinics held in addition to free drugs should be continued for effective management.