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Strategies To Improve Linkage To HIV Care In Urban Areas Of Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review
| Content Provider | Scilit |
|---|---|
| Author | Owusu, Kwadwo Koduah Adu-Gyamfi, Raphael Zamzam, Ahmed |
| Copyright Year | 2019 |
| Abstract | Of the 37 million people estimated to be living with HIV globally in 2017, about 24.7 million were in the sub-Saharan Africa region, which has been and remains worst affected by the epidemic. Enrolment of newly diagnosed individuals into care in the region, however, remains poor with up to 54% not being linked to care. Linkage to care is a very important step in the HIV cascade as it is the precursor to initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART), retention in care, and viral suppression. A systematic review was conducted to gather information regarding the strategies that have been documented to increase linkage to care of Persons living with HIV(PLHIV) in urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa. An electronic search was conducted on Scopus, Cochrane central, CINAHL Plus, PubMed and OpenGrey for linkage strategies implemented from 2006. A total of 189 potentially relevant citations were identified, of which 7 were eligible for inclusion. The identified strategies were categorized using themes from literature. The most common strategies included: health system interventions (i.e. comprehensive care, task shifting); patient convenience and accessibility (i.e. immediate CD4 count testing, immediate ART initiation, community HIV testing); behavior interventions and peer support (i.e. assisted partner services, care facilitation, mobile phone appointment reminders, health education) and incentives (i.e. non-cash financial incentives and transport reimbursement). Several strategies showed favorable outcomes: comprehensive care, immediate CD4 count testing, immediate ART initiation, and assisted partner services. Assisted partner services, same day home-based ART initiation, combination intervention strategies and point-of-care CD4 testing significantly improved linkage to care in urban settings of sub-Saharan African region. They can be delivered either in a health facility or in the community but should be facilitated by health workers. There is, however, the need to conduct more linkage-specific studies in the sub-region. |
| Related Links | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6898990/pdf https://www.dovepress.com/getfile.php?fileID=54447 |
| Ending Page | 332 |
| Page Count | 12 |
| Starting Page | 321 |
| ISSN | 11791373 |
| e-ISSN | 11791373 |
| DOI | 10.2147/hiv.s216093 |
| Journal | HIV/AIDS - Research and Palliative Care |
| Volume Number | 11 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited |
| Publisher Date | 2019-12-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Journal: Hiv/aids - Research and Palliative Care Biomedical Social Sciences Linkage To Care Human Immunodeficiency Virus Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Urban Sub-saharan Africa Adults |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
| Subject | Infectious Diseases Virology Dermatology Epidemiology Health Policy |
