Table 4.

Barriers to ART uptake and delivery

Barriers	N	Percentage (%)
Reported by staff (n=5)
Patient's clinical condition	2	40
Spiritual and herbal therapies	1	20
Refusal to initiate ART	2	40
Reported by PLHIV (n=986)
Stigmatization	498	51
Fear of confidentiality breach	199	20
Insufficient counselling	114	12
Indirect cost of ART initiation (transport, consultation fees, patient record, work-up)	91	9
Fear of side effects	19	1.9
No reason	16	1.6
Advice received	7	0.7
Denial of HIV existence	7	0.7
Distance from ART site	6	0.6
Fear to engage in life treatment	6	0.6
Shame	5	0.5
Ignorance	4	0.4
Long waiting time to be attended by health care provider	4	0.4
Refusal to accept HIV status	3	0.3
Others*	7	0.7

^*Negligence, don´t know, lack of courage, herbal and spiritual therapies, distrust in health system