Dataset Information

Optimizing community linkage to care and antiretroviral therapy Initiation: Lessons from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) and their adaptation in Nigeria ART Surge.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Ineffective linkage to care (LTC) is a known challenge for community HIV testing. To overcome this challenge, a robust linkage to care strategy was adopted by the 2018 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS). The NAIIS linkage to care strategy was further adapted to improve Nigeria's programmatic efforts to achieve the 1st 90 as part of the Nigeria Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Surge initiative, which also included targeted community testing. In this paper we provide an overview of the NAIIS LTC strategy and describe the impact of this strategy on both the NAIIS and the Surge initiatives.

Methods

The NAIIS collaborated with community-based organizations (CBOs) and deployed mobile health (mHealth) technology with real-time dashboards to manage and optimize community LTC for people living with HIV (PLHIV) diagnosed during the survey. In NAIIS, CBOs' role was to facilitate linkage of identified PLHIV in community to facility of their choice. For the ART Surge, we modified the NAIIS LTC strategy by empowering both CBOs and mobile community teams as responsible for not only active LTC but also for community testing, ART initiation, and retention in care.

Results

Of the 2,739 PLHIV 15 years and above identified in NAIIS, 1,975 (72.1%) were either unaware of their HIV-positive status (N = 1890) or were aware of their HIV-positive status but not receiving treatment (N = 85). Of these, 1,342 (67.9%) were linked to care, of which 952 (70.9%) were initiated on ART. Among 1,890 newly diagnosed PLHIV, 1,278 (67.6%) were linked to care, 33.7% self-linked and 66.3% were linked by CBOs. Among 85 known PLHIV not on treatment, 64 (75.3%) were linked; 32.8% self-linked and 67.2% were linked by a CBO. In the ART Surge, LTC and treatment initiation rates were 98% and 100%, respectively. Three-month retention for monthly treatment initiation cohorts improved from 76% to 90% over 6 months.

Conclusions

Active LTC strategies by local CBOs and mobile community teams improved LTC and ART initiation in the ART Surge initiative. The use of mHealth technology resulted in timely and accurate documentation of results in NAIIS. By deploying mHealth in addition to active LTC, CBOs and mobile community teams could effectively scale up ART with real-time documentation of client-level outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Jahun I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8451986 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:HIV-1 infection leads to chronic inflammation and to an increased risk of non-AIDS mortality. Our objective was to determine whether AIDS-defining events (ADEs) were associated with increased overall and cause-specific non-AIDS related mortality after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. We included HIV treatment-naïve adults from the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration (ART-CC) who initiated ART from 1996 to 2014. Causes of death were assigned using the Coding Causes of Death in HIV (CoDe) protocol. The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) for overall and cause-specific non-AIDS mortality among those with an ADE (all ADEs, tuberculosis (TB), Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PJP), and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL)) compared to those without an ADE was estimated using a marginal structural model. The adjusted hazard of overall non-AIDS mortality was higher among those with any ADE compared to those without any ADE (aHR 2.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.00 to 2.43). The adjusted hazard of each of the cause-specific non-AIDS related deaths were higher among those with any ADE compared to those without, except metabolic deaths (malignancy aHR 2.59 (95% CI 2.13 to 3.14), accident/suicide/overdose aHR 1.37 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.79), cardiovascular aHR 1.95 (95% CI 1.54 to 2.48), infection aHR (95% CI 1.68 to 2.81), hepatic aHR 2.09 (95% CI 1.61 to 2.72), respiratory aHR 4.28 (95% CI 2.67 to 6.88), renal aHR 5.81 (95% CI 2.69 to 12.56) and central nervous aHR 1.53 (95% CI 1.18 to 5.44)). The risk of overall and cause-specific non-AIDS mortality differed depending on the specific ADE of interest (TB, PJP, NHL). In this large multi-centre cohort collaboration with standardized assignment of causes of death, non-AIDS mortality was twice as high among patients with an ADE compared to without an ADE. However, non-AIDS related mortality after an ADE depended on the ADE of interest. Although there may be unmeasured confounders, these findings suggest that a common pathway may be independently driving both ADEs and NADE mortality. While prevention of ADEs may reduce subsequent death due to NADEs following ART initiation, modification of risk factors for NADE mortality remains important after ADE survival.

Project description:BackgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) self-testing is an innovative solution to the problem of low HIV testing coverage. It can help in realizing the first "95" of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS targets in the HIV treatment cascade. However, there is limited information to guide how those who self-test and show positive results can successfully be linked to HIV care and treatment. Therefore, this scoping review aimed at synthesizing available evidence of the outcomes of intervention strategies to optimize linkage to HIV care after HIV self-testing.MethodsOur methodology followed Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework. Two independent reviewers screened and extracted data based on predetermined criteria. The databases searched included PubMed, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Mednar, and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.ResultsA total of 4809 records were retrieved. After full-text screening, 14 studies met the inclusion criteria for the review. The intervention strategies reported were classified into four main categories: technology-assisted interventions, innovative HIV self-testing kits distribution mechanisms, financial incentive, social entrepreneurship models, and the use of key community opinion leaders and social media influencers. This scoping review found men who have sex with men as the main recipients of the interventions to improve the rate of linkage to HIV care following HIV self-testing. Studies that met the inclusion criteria reported mixed findings on the outcomes of interventions to improve the rate of linkage to HIV care following HIV self-testing. Financial incentives, interventions leveraging technology, and key opinion leaders were the most effective strategies.ConclusionsGiven that the included studies did not employ a uniform system of measurement of effectiveness, there is a need for identification of standardized definitions and clear indicators for evaluating linkage to care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation following HIV self-testing.

Project description:IntroductionHIV prevalence is declining in key populations in Armenia including in people who inject drugs (PWID), men who have sex with men, prison inmates, and female sex workers (FSWs); however, prevalence is increasing among Armenians who seasonally migrate to work in countries with higher HIV prevalence, primarily to the Russian Federation.MethodsWe conducted a modelling study using the Optima model to assess the optimal resource allocation to meet targets from the 2013 to 2016 national strategic plan to minimize HIV incidence and AIDS-related deaths by 2020. Demographic, epidemiological, behavioural, and programme cost data from 2000 through 2014 were used to inform the model. The levels of coverage that could be attained among targeted populations with different investments, as well as their expected outcomes, were determined. In the absence of evidence of the efficacy of HIV programmes targeted at seasonal labour migrants, we conducted a sensitivity analysis to determine the cost-effective funding threshold for the seasonal labour migrant programme.ResultsThe optimization analysis revealed that shifts in funding allocations could further minimize incidence and deaths by 2020 within the available resource envelope. The largest emphasis should be on antiretroviral therapy (ART), with the optimal investment to increase treatment coverage by 40%. Optimal investments also involve increases in opiate substitution therapy and FSW programmes, as well as maintenance of other prevention programmes for PWID and prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Additional funding for these increases should come from budgets for general population programmes. This is projected to avert 17% of new infections and 29% of AIDS-related deaths by 2020 compared to a baseline scenario of maintaining 2013 spending. Our sensitivity analysis demonstrated that, at current spending, coverage of annual testing among migrants of at least 43% should be achieved to warrant continuation of funding for this programme.ConclusionsOptimization of HIV/AIDS investment in Armenia, with a main priority for scaling-up ART, and less emphasis on primary prevention in the general non-key population could significantly reduce incidence and deaths by 2020.