Language in tuberculosis services: can we change to patient-centred terminology and stop the paradigm of blaming the patients?

The words 'defaulter', 'suspect' and 'control' have been part of the language of tuberculosis (TB) services for many decades, and they continue to be used in international guidelines and in published literature. From a patient perspective, it is our opinion that these terms are at best inappropriate, coercive and disempowering, and at worst they could be perceived as judgmental and criminalising, tending to place the blame of the disease or responsibility for adverse treatment outcomes on one side-that of the patients. In this article, which brings together a wide range of authors and institutions from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Pacific, we discuss the use of the words 'defaulter', 'suspect' and 'control' and argue why it is detrimental to continue using them in the context of TB. We propose that 'defaulter' be replaced with 'person lost to follow-up'; that 'TB suspect' be replaced by 'person with presumptive TB' or 'person to be evaluated for TB'; and that the term 'control' be replaced with 'prevention and care' or simply deleted. These terms are non-judgmental and patient-centred. We appeal to the global Stop TB Partnership to lead discussions on this issue and to make concrete steps towards changing the current paradigm

Task shifting routine inpatient pediatric HIV testing improves program outcomes in urban Malawi: a retrospective observational study.

This study evaluated two models of routine HIV testing of hospitalized children in a high HIV-prevalence resource-constrained African setting. Both models incorporated "task shifting," or the allocation of tasks to the least-costly, capable health worker.Two models were piloted for three months each within the pediatric department of a referral hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi between January 1 and June 30, 2008. Model 1 utilized lay counselors for HIV testing instead of nurses and clinicians. Model 2 further shifted program flow and advocacy responsibilities from counselors to volunteer parents of HIV-infected children, called "patient escorts." A retrospective review of data from 6318 hospitalized children offered HIV testing between January-December 2008 was conducted. The pilot quarters of Model 1 and Model 2 were compared, with Model 2 selected to continue after the pilot period. There was a 2-fold increase in patients offered HIV testing with Model 2 compared with Model 1 (43.1% vs 19.9%, p<0.001). Furthermore, patients in Model 2 were younger (17.3 vs 26.7 months, p<0.001) and tested sooner after admission (1.77 vs 2.44 days, p<0.001). There were no differences in test acceptance or enrollment rates into HIV care, and the program trends continued 6 months after the pilot period. Overall, 10244 HIV antibody tests (4779 maternal; 5465 child) and 453 DNA-PCR tests were completed, with 97.8% accepting testing. 19.6% of all mothers (n = 1112) and 8.5% of all children (n = 525) were HIV-infected. Furthermore, 6.5% of children were HIV-exposed (n = 405). Cumulatively, 72.9% (n = 678) of eligible children were evaluated in the hospital by a HIV-trained clinician, and 68.3% (n = 387) successfully enrolled into outpatient HIV care.The strategy presented here, task shifting from lay counselors alone to lay counselors and patient escorts, greatly improved program outcomes while only marginally increasing operational costs. The wider implementation of this strategy could accelerate pediatric HIV care access in high-prevalence settings

Systematic review of hypertension and diabetes burden, risk factors, and interventions for prevention and control in Malawi

Recent studies have found an increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. A compressive search of PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, and the World Health Organization Global Health Library databases was undertaken to identify studies reporting on the prevalence, risk factors, and interventions for hypertension and diabetes in Malawi. The findings from 23 included studies revealed a high burden of hypertension and diabetes in Malawi, with estimates ranging from 15.8% to 32.9% and from 2.4% to 5.6%, respectively. Associated risk factors included old age, tobacco smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, physical inactivity, high salt and sugar intake, low fruit and vegetable intake, high body mass index, and high waist-to-hip ratio. Certain antiretroviral therapy regimens were also associated with increased diabetes and hypertension risk in human immunodeficiency virus patient populations. Nationwide, the quality of clinical care was generally limited and demonstrated a need for innovative and targeted interventions to prevent, control, and treat noncommunicable diseases in Malawi