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ABSTRACT: PROBLEM: Malawi's national guidelines recommend that infants exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) be tested at 6 weeks of age. Rollout of services for early infant diagnosis has been limited and has resulted in the initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in very few infants. APPROACH: An early infant diagnosis programme was launched. It included education of pregnant women on infant testing, community sensitization, free infant testing at 6 weeks of age, active tracing of HIV-positive infants and referral for treatment and care. LOCAL SETTING: The programme was established in two primary care facilities in Blantyre, Malawi. RELEVANT CHANGES: Of 1214 HIV-exposed infants, 71.6% presented for early diagnosis, and 14.5% of those who presented tested positive for HIV. Further testing of 103 of these 126 apparently HIV-positive infants confirmed infection in 88; the other 15 results were false positives. The initial polymerase chain reaction testing of dried blood spots had a positive predictive value (PPV) of 85.4%. Despite active tracing, only 87.3% (110/126) of the mothers of infants who initially tested positive were told their infants' test results. ART was initiated in 58% of the infants with confirmed HIV infection. LESSONS LEARNT: Early infant diagnosis of HIV infection at the primary care level in a resource-poor setting is challenging. Many children in the HIV diagnosis and treatment programme were lost to follow-up at various stages. Diagnostic tools with higher PPV and point-of-care capacity and better infrastructures for administering ART are needed to improve the management of HIV-exposed and HIV-infected infants.
Bulletin of the World Health Organisation 09/2012; 90(9):699-704. · 4.64 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: High quality program data is critical for managing, monitoring, and evaluating national HIV treatment programs. By 2009, the Malawi Ministry of Health had initiated more than 270,000 patients on HIV treatment at 377 sites. Quarterly supervision of these antiretroviral therapy (ART) sites ensures high quality care, but the time currently dedicated to exhaustive record review and data cleaning detracts from other critical components. The exhaustive record review is unlikely to be sustainable long term because of the resources required and increasing number of patients on ART. This study quantifies the current levels of data quality and evaluates Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) as a tool to prioritize sites with low data quality, thus lowering costs while maintaining sufficient quality for program monitoring and patient care.
In January 2010, a study team joined supervision teams at 19 sites purposely selected to reflect the variety of ART sites. During the exhaustive data review, the time allocated to data cleaning and data discrepancies were documented. The team then randomly sampled 76 records from each site, recording secondary outcomes and the time required for sampling.
At the 19 sites, only 1.2% of records had discrepancies in patient outcomes and 0.4% in treatment regimen. However, data cleaning took 28.5 hours in total, suggesting that data cleaning for all 377 ART sites would require over 350 supervision-hours quarterly. The LQAS tool accurately identified the sites with the low data quality, reduced the time for data cleaning by 70%, and allowed for reporting on secondary outcomes.
Most sites maintained high quality records. In spite of this, data cleaning required significant amounts of time with little effect on program estimates of patient outcomes. LQAS conserves resources while maintaining sufficient data quality for program assessment and management to allow for quality patient care.
BMC Health Services Research 07/2012; 12:196. · 1.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Current antiretroviral treatment (ART) models in Africa are labour intensive and require a high number of skilled staff. In the context of constraints in human resources for health, task shifting is considered a feasible alternative for ART service delivery. In 2006, Dignitas International in partnership with the Malawi Ministry of Health trained a cadre of expert patients at the HIV Clinic at a tertiary referral hospital in Zomba, Malawi. Expert patients were trained to assist with clinic tasks including measurement of vital signs, anthropometry and counseling.
A descriptive observational study using mixed methods was conducted two years after the start of program implementation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 patients, seven expert patients and six formal health care providers to explore perceptions towards the expert patients' contributions in the clinic. Structured exit interviews with 81 patients, assessed whether essential ART information was conveyed during counseling sessions. Vital signs and anthropometry measurements performed by expert patients were repeated by a nurse to assess accuracy of measurements. Direct observations quantified the time spent with each patient.
There were minor differences in measurement of patients' weight, height and temperature between the expert patients and the nurse. The majority of patients exiting a counseling session reported, without prompting, at least three side effects of ART, correct actions to be taken on observing a side-effect, and correct consequences of non-adherence to ART. Expert patients carried out 368 hours of nurse tasks each month, saving two and a half full-time nurse equivalents per month. Formal health care workers and patients accept and value expert patients' involvement in ART provision and care. Expert patients felt valued by patients for being a 'role model', or a 'model of hope', promoting positive living and adherence to ART.
Expert patients add value to the ART services at a tertiary referral HIV clinic in Malawi. Expert patients carry out shifted tasks acceptably, saving formal health staff time, and also act as 'living testimonies' of the benefits of ART and can be a means of achieving greater involvement of People Living with HIV in HIV treatment programs.
BMC Health Services Research 06/2012; 12:140. · 1.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Maternal morbidity and mortality among HIV-infected women is a global concern. This study compared mortality and health outcomes of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected mothers at 18-20 months postpartum within routine prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services in a rural district in Malawi.
A retrospective cohort study of mother-child dyads at 18-20 months postpartum in Zomba District. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, service uptake, maternal health outcomes and biometric parameters were collected.
173 HIV-infected and 214 HIV-uninfected mothers were included. HIV-specific cohort mortality at 18-20 months postpartum was 42.4 deaths/1000 person-years; no deaths occurred among HIV-uninfected women. Median time to death was 11 months post-partum (range 3-19). Women ranked their health on a comparative qualitative scale; HIV-infected women perceived their health to be poorer than did HIV-uninfected women (RR 2.4; 95% CI 1.6-3.7). Perceived maternal health status was well correlated with an objective measure of functional status (Karnofsky scale; p<0.001). HIV-infected women were more likely to report minor (RR 3.8; 95% CI 2.3-6.4) and major (RR 6.2; 95% CI 2.2-17.7) signs or symptoms of disease. In multivariable analysis, HIV-infected women remained twice as likely to report poorer health [adjusted OR (aOR) 2.3; 95% CI 1.4-3.6], as did women with low BMI (aOR 2.1; 95% CI 1.1-4.0) and scoring lowest on the welfare scale (aOR 2.0; 95% CI 1.1-3.8).
HIV-infected women show increased mortality and morbidity at 18-20 months postpartum. In our rural Malawian operational setting, where there is documented under-application of ART and poor adherence to PMTCT services, these results support attention to optimizing maternal participation in PMTCT programs.
PLoS ONE 01/2012; 7(9):e44396. · 4.09 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: HIV prevalence among pregnant women in Malawi is 12.6%, and mother-to-child transmission is a major route of transmission. As PMTCT services have expanded in Malawi in recent years, we sought to determine uptake of services, HIV-relevant infant feeding practices and mother-child health outcomes.
A matched-cohort study of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected mothers and their infants at 18-20 months post-partum in Zomba District, Malawi. 360 HIV-infected and 360 HIV-uninfected mothers were identified through registers. 387 mother-child pairs were included in the study.
10% of HIV-infected mothers were on HAART before delivery, 27% by 18-20 months post-partum. sd-NVP was taken by 75% of HIV-infected mothers not on HAART, and given to 66% of infants. 18% of HIV-infected mothers followed all current recommended PMTCT options. HIV-infected mothers breastfed fewer months than HIV-uninfected mothers (12 vs.18, respectively; p < 0.01). 19% of exposed versus 5% of unexposed children had died by 18-20 months; p < 0.01. 28% of exposed children had been tested for HIV prior to the study, 76% were tested as part of the study and 11% were found HIV-positive. HIV-free survival by 18-20 months was 66% (95%CI 58-74). There were 11(6%) maternal deaths among HIV-infected mothers only.
This study shows low PMTCT program efficiency and effectiveness under routine program conditions in Malawi. HIV-free infant survival may have been influenced by key factors, including underuse of HAART, underuse of sd-NVP, and suboptimal infant feeding practices. Maternal mortality among HIV-infected women demands attention; improved maternal survival is a means to improve infant survival.
BMC Public Health 06/2011; 11:426. · 2.00 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Malawi has one of the world's lowest densities of Health Care Workers (HCW) per capita. This study evaluates outcomes of a dedicated HCW HIV clinic in Malawi, created at Zomba Central Hospital in January 2007.
Retrospective cohort data was analyzed comparing HCW clinic patient baseline characteristics and treatment outcomes at 18 months after inception, against those attending the general HIV clinic. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted to explore perceptions of patients and caregivers regarding program value, level of awareness and barriers for uptake amongst HCW. 306 patients were enrolled on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the HCW HIV clinic, 6784 in the general clinic. Significantly (p<0.01) more HCW clients were initiated on ART on the basis of CD4 as opposed to WHO Stage 3/4 (36% vs.23%). Significantly fewer HCW clients defaulted (6% vs.17%), and died (4% vs.12%). The dedicated HCW HIV clinic was perceived as important and convenient in terms of reduced waiting times, and prompt and high quality care. Improved confidentiality was an appreciated quality of the HCW clinic however barriers included fear of being recognized.
Outcomes at the HCW clinic appear better compared to the general HIV clinic. The strategy of dedicated clinics to care for health providers is a means of HIV impact mitigation within human resource constrained health systems in high prevalence settings.
PLoS ONE 01/2011; 6(5):e19789. · 4.09 Impact Factor
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Amy L Corneli,
Margaret E Bentley,
James R Sorenson,
Gail E Henderson,
Charles van der Horst,
Agnes Moses,
Jacqueline Nkhoma, Lyson Tenthani,
Yusuf Ahmed,
Charles M Heilig,
Denise J Jamieson
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ABSTRACT: PARTICIPANT UNDERSTANDING is of particular concern when obtaining informed consent. Recommendations for improving understanding include disclosing information using culturallyappropriate and innovative approaches. To increase the effectiveness of the consent process for a clinical trial in Malawi on interventions to prevent mother-tochild transmission of HIV during breastfeeding, formative research was conducted to explore the community's understanding of medical research as well as how to explain research through local terms and meanings. Contextual analogies and other approaches were identified to explain consent information. Guided by theory, strategies for developing culturally appropriate interventions, and recommendations from the literature, we demonstrate how the formative data were used to develop culturally appropriate counseling cards specifically for the trial in Malawi. With appropriate contextual modifications, the steps outlined here could be applied in other clinical trials conducted elsewhere, as well as in other types of research.
Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 01/2007; 1(4):45-60. · 1.27 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Background: HIV prevalence among pregnant women in Malawi is 12.6%, and mother-to-child transmission is a major route of transmission. As PMTCT services have expanded in Malawi in recent years, we sought to determine uptake of services, HIV-relevant infant feeding practices and mother-child health outcomes.
