Guidance and Counselling Support for HIV-Positive Students in Tertiary Institutions in Anambra State: A Programme Review

HIV-positive students in Nigerian tertiary institutions face compounded challenges including health management, academic continuation, disclosure anxiety, and social stigmatisation, requiring targeted and sensitive counselling support frameworks. This study reviewed the guidance and counselling support programmes available for HIV-positive students in tertiary institutions in Anambra State, South East Nigeria. A programme review methodology was adopted, combining document analysis of institutional policies and records with interviews of 30 counsellors and student health officers and questionnaire administration to 90 HIV-positive students across four institutions. The Programme Quality Assessment Framework and the HIV Stigma Scale were used as analytical tools. Findings indicated that while most institutions had some form of health counselling service, formal guidance and counselling programmes specifically tailored to HIV-positive students were absent. Students reported experiencing significant stigma, with academic support for health-related absenteeism being largely at the discretion of individual lecturers rather than institutionally guaranteed. Counsellors lacked specific training in HIV counselling and psychosocial support. The study recommended the development of institutional HIV counselling policy frameworks in all tertiary institutions in Anambra State, the training of counsellors in pre- and post-test counselling protocols, and the creation of confidential peer support networks for HIV-positive students. Keywords: HIV counselling, stigma, tertiary institutions, Anambra State, student support.