Viral load (VL) testing is recommended for monitoring people on ART. The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) in South Africa conducts >5million laboratory-based VL tests but faces challenges with specimen integrity and results delivery. Point-of-care (POC) VL monitoring may improve VL suppression (VLS). We assessed the cost-effectiveness of different strategies for POC testing in South Africa. Methods: We developed a cost-outcome model utilizing NHLS data, including facility-level
South Africa is home to more people living with HIV than any other country, including nearly one in three pregnant women attending antenatal care. Access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) has increased substantially since the start of the national ART program in 2004, with > 95% ART coverage during pregnancy and delivery, and vertical transmission of HIV greatly reduced. However, women who initiate ART during pregnancy are at heightened risk of dropping out of care, particularly after
This study estimates the costs of community-based HIV testing services (HTS) in Lesotho and assesses the potential efficiency gains achieved by adding HIV self-testing (HIVST) and then self-testing
South Africa carries 3% of the world’s tuberculosis (TB) case burden and is experiencing a dual TB/HIV epidemic: 59% of adult TB patients are also HIV positive. There are no recent published estimates on the costs and outcomes of drug-susceptible TB in South Africa for adults in an out-patient setting with the exception of one paper published in 2003 (using 1997 data) and another in 2006 (using 2001 data) . The proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) system aims to re-engineer primary
In South Africa, lay HIV counsellors are at the forefront of many HIV-related behavioural interventions. However, they have limited formal counselling training and little ongoing in-service support, leading to considerable variability in approaches to counselling. We describe the use of Intervention Mapping to develop a motivational interviewing counselling training and support program, titled “Thusa-Thuso - helping you help”, for lay HIV counsellors practising in primary health care
The World Health Organization recommends national programs use viral load monitoring for patients on ART1 to determine whether treatment has been successful and to guide clinicians on when to switch treatment to second-line regimens, indicated if the virus is resistant to first-line therapy. Not all countries are able to provide viral load testing as part of national programs but for those that do, patients with an elevated viral load (VL) are recommended to undergo adherence counselling and
HIV testing represents the primary entry point into HIV care and treatment programs for people living with HIV and is the first of UNAID’s 90-90-901 targets. South Africa made a large effort to expand HIV testing in April 2010 by implementing a national testing campaign2. This campaign, designed to increase awareness of HIV status, sought to test 15 million people by June 2011. The monthly number of people tested for HIV increased from approximately 240,000 per month in the period prior to
ALTHOUGH CURABLE, TB frequently leaves the individual with chronic physical and psycho-social impairment, but these consequences have been largely neglected. The 1st International Post-Tuberculosis Symposium (Stellenbosch, South Africa) was held to discuss priorities and gaps in addressing this issue. A barrier to progress has been the varied terminology and nomenclature, so the Delphi process was used to achieve consensus on definitions. Lack of sufficient evidence hampered definitive
HIV patients in South Africa continue to report operational barriers to starting antiretroviral therapy (ART). In the Simplified Algorithm for Treatment Eligibility (SLATE) II trial, same-day initiation (SDI) of ART increased the number of patients commencing ART and achieving HIV viral suppression by using a screening tool to distinguish between patients eligible for SDI and those requiring additional care before starting treatment. We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation to explore trial
HIV self-testing (HIVST) in outpatient departments (OPD) is a promising strategy for HIV testing in Malawi, given high OPD patient volumes and substantial wait times. To evaluate the relative cost and expected impact of facility-based HIVST (FB-HIVST) at OPDs in Malawi for increasing HIV status awareness, we conducted an economic evaluation of an HIVSTcluster-randomized controlled
Objective We used screening data and routine clinic records for intervention arm patients in the Simplified Algorithm for Treatment Eligibility (SLATE) trials to describe the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) symptoms, diagnosis and treatment among people living with HIV (PLHIV), not on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and presenting at outpatient clinics in South Africa and Kenya. We compared the performance of the WHO four-symptom TB screening tool with a baseline Xpert test. Setting Outpatient HIV
Differentiated models of service delivery (DSD models) for HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa were conceived as a way to manage rapidly expanding populations of experienced patients who are clinically “stable” on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Entry requirements for most models include at least six months on treatment and a suppressed viral load. These models thus systematically exclude newly-initiated patients, who instead experience the conventional model of care, which requires
