Healthcare workers play a pivotal role in enhancing access to quality healthcare services in communities. Their attitudes to and perceptions of patients, particularly people living with HIV (PLHIV), profoundly impact disease management.

Utilising simple random sampling, healthcare workers and PLHIV patients were recruited, with in-depth interviews conducted among the former. The findings revealed that a third of healthcare workers held negative perceptions of PLHIV, yet opposed blaming HIV-positive patients, recognising its adverse effects on treatment adherence and mental health. Two-thirds demonstrated positive attitudes, refraining from stigmatisation or discrimination.

A third of the patients perceived healthcare workers negatively, while 70% reported comfortable interactions during clinic visits, contrary to previous findings. The study found no significant correlation between healthcare workers’ perceptions and patients’ age, education level or gender. These findings underscored the pivotal role of healthcare workers’ attitudes and perceptions in HIV treatment.