The World Health Organization recommends "sameday" initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV patients eligible and ready1. This recommendation has been adopted by both South Africa2 and Kenya3. Identifying efficient, safe, and feasible procedures for determining same-day eligibility and readiness is now a priority. The WHO guidelines cited evidence from clinical trials suggesting that offering treatment to patients at their first clinical encounter has the potential to increase
The Financial Capacity Building for Provinces (FINCAP) project, run in partnership by the Centre for Economic Governance and Accountability in Africa (CEGAA) and the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE2RO), focuses on providing capacity building and technical support to HIV, STI and TB (HAST) programme and finance managers in provincial departments of health in South Africa. The intervention was designed to improve budget planning, costing, expenditure tracking and reporting
The Basic Accounting System (BAS) caters for the South African government’s basic accounting needs. It is the general ledger where all financial transactions are recorded and classified in accordance with the Standard Chart of Accounts (SCoA) system. Transactions are initially recorded in sub-systems i.e. payroll system, inventory and asset management, pharmaceuticals and payment of utilities. Measures are taken to ensure that information in the sub-systems matches transactions captured in
South Africa’s government-wide expenditure on HIV/AIDS programmes is estimated to have almost doubled over the past five financial years from R10.6 billion in 2012/13 to R20.3 billion in 2017/18.1* The majority of this expenditure (85.2% in 2017/18) is funded through the HIV, TB, Malaria and Community Outreach Grant, which is a ring-fenced conditional grant (CG) allocated via the National Department of Health (NDOH) to provincial health budgets. The HIV/AIDS component of this grant is one of
In 2017, South Africa had 7.2 million people living with HIV, of whom 61% were on antiretroviral therapy (UNAIDS 2018). While HIV treatment in the public sector is well documented through national electronic medical record systems, such as Tier.Net, DHIS, and the NHLS data warehouse, little is known about the role of the private sector in HIV treatment service delivery (Awsumb et al, IAS 2017). In particular, there are no published geographic data describing the HIV disease burden amongst
There is very little data on the availability of breast care screening and treatment services in sub-Saharan Africa, and almost no information on integration of HIV and breast care services in this setting. In this study we assessed the availability of comprehensive breast care services and their integration (or not) with HIV care and treatment services in sub-Saharan Africa, with a special focus on South Africa which has placed an emphasis on integration of HIV and SRH care in its public
In this analysis, syndromic management was the least costly option. It requires skilled personnel but minimal supplies, equipment, and medication.Despite higher costs per case tested, the WHO has recommended etiological testing in countries that can afford it as part of its 2016-2021 strategy for global STI control.3 The added cost of etiological testing is possibly less than that of syndromic management if one considers the costs of caring for the many short- and long-term sequelae of
Despite higher costs per case tested, the WHO has recommended etiological testing in countries that can afford it as part of its 2016-2021 strategy for global STI control.3The added cost of etiological testing is possibly less than that of syndromic management if one considers the costs of caring for the many short- and long-term sequelae of untreated STIs, including ectopic pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease, and infertility in women, and additional complications for newborns. However,
We found frequent movement between facilities, as well as frequent log-distance travel during the postpartum period. The movement between facilities results in an overestimation of true LTFU. A concerted effort to synchronise data between facilities in real-time is needed both for quality of patient care and program
We assessed the relationship between distance to clinic and progression through the HIV care cascade. We have two key findings. First, distance matters but only for women. Second, for women, distance affected linkage to care, but was not associated with later transitions in the care cascade. It is possible that distance is a less important barrier once people find out their HIV status, learn about treatment, and overcome the hurdle of their first clinic
With its recommendations that all patients initiate Tenofovir, WHO anticipated improved adherence and reduced lost to follow-up, with implications for long health outcomes such as CD4 recovery, viral suppression and survival. We show that the guideline change replacing Stavudine with Tenofovir in first-line ART improved retention in care and reduced single-drug
We demonstrated that patient-related factors (e.g. use of traditional/herbal medicine, depression, family/social support) but not necessarily provider-related factors, health system factors or treatment related factors contribute to poor adherence on second-line ART. Based on our findings, there is a need for on-going counselling and education of patients on second-line ART. Strategies to support patients, improved adherence evaluation and intensified monitoring need to be considered and
