A report on the Zimbabwe Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) programme: progress towards achieving MDG6 target 6B: achievement and challenges

A journal article on Zimbabwe's target to achieve universal access to treatment of HIV/AIDS thereby achieving one of the stipulated UN MDG's.Zimbabwe's target to achieve Universal Access to treatment for HIV and AIDS, was severely affected by a decade long economic recession that threatened to reverse all the country's social and economic indicators. Despite these challenges, by September 2010, 282,916 adults and children (47.7% of those in need of treatment) were on treatment at 509 sites countrywide since national scale up started.. ART services are predominantly offered through the public sector, with the private sector being an untapped potential resource for ART services for the future. Challenges of skilled and adequately trained human resources have hindered progress towards service availability. Providing access to children in particular has been constrained by lack of clinical mentor-ship for health workers, weak systems for support supervision, and inadequate HIV diagnostic services especially for children under 18 months and challenges with follow up of the HIV- exposed infants. Though the country has not met Its target of Universal Access by 2010, significant progress has been made with over a30- fold increase in service availability

For richer, for poorer: marriage and casualized sex in East African artisanal mining settlements

Migrants to Tanzania's artisanal gold mining sites seek mineral wealth, which is accompanied by high risks of occupational hazards, economic failure, AIDS and social censure from their home communities. Male miners in these settlements compete to attract newly arrived young women who are perceived to be diverting male material support from older women and children's economic survival. This article explores the dynamics of monogamy, polygamy and promiscuity in the context of rapid occupational change. It shows how a wide spectrum of productive and welfare outcomes is generated through sexual experimentation, which calls into question conventional concepts of prostitution, marriage and gender power relations

Frontal fibrosing alopecia in men: an association with leave-on facial cosmetics and sunscreens

SCOPUS: le.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

A systematic review of the effects of exercise interventions on body composition in HIV+ adults

Over the years, physical activity and exercise have been used to positively impact the health and quality of life of persons infected with HIV and, more recently, has been associated with a spectrum of body composition changes. The aim of this review was to examine the effects of various exercise interventions on body composition in HIV positive adults, using a search strategy of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs). A systematic review was performed by five independent reviewers using a predetermined protocol adapted from previous research for assessing the articles for inclusion, the extracted data, and methodological quality. Eight RCTs involving 430 (26% female) HIV positive adults performing exercise a minimum of thrice weekly for at least six weeks were finally selected: Four were progressive resistance training (PRT) studies, three were aerobic training (AT) studies, and one involved yoga. In the PRT studies, there were significant increases in three anthropometric measures, namely, body mass, sum of skinfolds and sum of limb girths. In the AT studies, significant decreases were found in seven anthropometric measures, namely, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, body mass, triceps skinfold, waist circumference and sum of skinfolds. With yoga, the changes were nonsignificant. Exercise contributes to improved body composition and, when applied safely, appears to be beneficial for adults living with HIV/AIDS. However, these findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the relatively few RCTs published to date. Future studies would benefit from increased attention to sample size, female participants, participant follow-up, complete statistical analysis and intention-to-treat analysis.Scopu

Clinical management of combined tuberculosis and diabetes

Item does not contain fulltextOptimal management of combined tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes (DM) is important but challenging in terms of achieving good disease outcomes and avoiding toxicity, drug interactions and other challenges. DM management during anti-tuberculosis treatment, aimed at improving TB treatment outcomes and reducing DM-related morbidity and mortality, consists of glycaemic control and measures to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Metformin, the glucose-lowering drug of choice for TB patients, has no meaningful interaction with rifampicin (RMP), and may reduce TB mortality. Insulin is effective for severe hyperglycaemia, but has several disadvantages that limit its use in TB patients. Cardiovascular risk assessment should be considered in TB-DM patients to guide management in terms of counselling and prescription of antihypertensive, lipid-lowering and anti-platelet treatment. With regard to anti-tuberculosis treatment, DM is associated with an increased risk of drug resistance, lower exposure to anti-tuberculosis drugs, treatment failure and recurrent TB. Patients therefore need careful assessment before, during and possibly after anti-tuberculosis treatment. Although no studies have been performed, anti-tuberculosis treatment may also have to be prolonged or intensified in terms of regimen or drug dosage if DM is present. With regard to service delivery, combined treatment should probably be administered, supervised and monitored as much as possible in a TB clinic. Local circumstances and severity of DM will guide the need for referral of patients to specialised DM care, and continuation of DM care after completion of anti-tuberculosis treatment. More data are also needed for the management of TB-DM patients with human immunodeficiency virus co-infection

Routine reporting or sentinel surveys for HIV AIDS surveillance in resource-poor settings: experience in South Africa, 1991-97

Information from routine and sentinel surveillance was used to monitor the HIV/AIDS epidemic in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between 1991 and 1997. Comparisons were made between data obtained from (1) sentinel surveillance for antenatal HIV infection, pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), and AIDS in a single health district and (2) province-wide sentinel surveillance for antenatal HIV infection, legally required notification of cases of PTB, and voluntary notification of AIDS cases. HIV prevalence among antenatal clinic attenders in the sentinel district rose rapidly and at similar rates to provincial figures: 4.2% vs 4.8% in 1992 to 25.9% vs 26.9% in 1997. PTB incidence increased four-fold in the sentinel district over the study period, whereas provincial PTB figures from passive surveillance fluctuated widely and showed no clear increase (Chi-square for trend 425.5, P < 0.00001). AIDS incidence in the sentinel district increased dramatically while provincial data from the voluntary reporting system showed a less consistent and much slower rise (Chi square for trend 9.07, P=0.003). Incidence of AIDS in 1997 was estimated as 437/10(5) in the sentinel district compared to 32/10(5) in the provincial figures. Routine disease notification and voluntary reporting systems are likely to underestimate the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in resource-poor settings. Sentinel surveillance at representative sites should;be developed to validate or replace passive surveillance systems.3 page(s

Who is accessing antiretroviral therapy in Malawi? A study in the Southern Region on the occupation category “other”

As part of quarterly national reports on the scale up of antiretroviral therapy (ART), demographic and clinical characteristics are recorded including data on occupation. The largest occupational category is that of “other”. As there is no information on the composition of the different occupations of patients placed in this category, a formal study was therefore conducted in 6 representative public sector facilities in the Southeastern Region of Malawi. Between January to June 2006, there were 126 adult patients recorded as “other” in the occupation column. A great variety of different occupations was recorded including no employment 30%, administration jobs 24%, general labourers 11%, builders 10%, tailors 9% and drivers 7%. A wide range of people with different jobs are accessing ART, and this should help in improving the economy of the patients as well as the country at large

An audit of how patients get on to antiretroviral therapy in Malawi, and the weight gain they experience in the first six months

An operational study was conducted in 6 public sector health facilities in the Southern Region of Malawi to determine a) drop-out rates during the referral process of patients to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and b) weight gained during the first 6 months in patients who were alive and on ART at that time. There were 738 adult HIV-infected eligible patients booked for group counseling, of whom 550 (74.5%) attended individual counseling and started ART. 16% of patients dropped out between booking and group counseling and 9.5% between group counseling and start of ART. In patients who were alive and on ART 6 months after starting, there was a gradual increase in weight with a mean gain of 6.0 kg in men and 5.0 kg in women. There was a slight increase in weight gain in patients in WHO Clinical Stage 3 and 4 compared with those in Stage 1&2, although this was only significant at 6-months between women in Stage 4 compared with women in Stage 1&2 (p <0.05). More information is needed on why patients drop out of the counseling process before starting ART, and whether weight gain is a marker for survival in the early months of ART