A Case-Control Study of Factors Associated with Non-Adherent to Antiretroviral Therapy Among HIV Infected People in Pwani Region, Eastern Tanzania

Non-adherence is one of the major causes of treatment failure which leads to increased morbidity and mortality caused by opportunistic infections. Optimal anti-retroviral therapy (ART) adherence is essential for maximal suppression of viral replication and long term survival of patients. In order to develop effective public health interventions in the context of scaling ART services to peripheral areas, it is important to evaluate factors associated with non-adherence among HIV-infected individuals in Pwani Region. The purpose of this study was to identify factors related to non-adherence to ART among HIV infected people in Pwani Region eastern of Tanzania. A case-control study was carried out at Tumbi Hospital and Chalinze Health Centre in Pwani Region in eastern Tanzania. A structured questionnaire was used to assess non-adherence and adherence to doses instruction and time schedule. Patients with less than 95% adherence were defined as cases while those with more than 95% adherence became controls. A structured questionnaire containing factors known to be associated with non-adherence to ART in similar settings was administered. Univariate and multivariate conditional logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with non-adherence. A total of 79 cases and 237 controls matched by age and sex were studied. A high proportion of cases and controls (77.2% and 84.8%) had good knowledge of ART benefits, adherence and eligibility. Majority of cases (73.3%) and controls (69.2%) used public transport to access ART services. More than half of cases (53.2%) missed clinic appointments due to lack of bus fare or other reasons and was associated with ART non adherence (mOR 4.2, 95%CI, 2.2-8.1 and 2.1,95%CI 1.2-4.2). Disclosure to confidants only and failure to disclose HIV-test positive status were associated with non adherence (mOR 3.3, 95%CI 1.3-8.5 and 2.3, 95%CI 1.2-7.1). Alcohol use was associated with non adherence to ART (mOR 1.9, 95%CI 1.4-3.7). Patients who were not satisfied with providers were more likely to be non adherence to ART (mOR 2.0, 95%CI 1.2-3.8). In conclusion, these findings show that adherence is a process which is depended on local specific adherence factors. Adherence improvement strategies need to consider site specific adherence determinants, patient experiences and concern

Management of HIV and AIDS at lower primary health care facility in Chalinze, eastern Tanzania

Implementation of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) services at health centres in Tanzania were delayed due to several reasons including shortage of qualified staff, inadequate infrastructure and logistics problems. However, patients from peripheral areas experienced difficulties in accessing ART services due to long distances from clinics. National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) embarked on ART services scale-up programme aimed at improved ART availability and accessibility. Through this programme ART services were established at health centres and selected dispensaries. However, no previous documented experiences existed at country level to guide provision of services. Therefore, this study was designed to gather experiences and share lessons learnt with other health care providers and programme implementing partners. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study involved patients enrolled to ART services between May 2007 and April 2009. Data collection involved observation of health providers’ performance and retrospective ART and care patients’ registers review. During the study period, 611 care and 284 ART patients were attended. Majority of patients (85.1%; 762/895) were adults aged 25-45 years. In total 61.5% (550/895) of the patients had CD4+T lymphocytes ≤350/µl the cut-off point for initiating ART. The frequency of symptoms was noted to significantly decrease with increasing CD4 counts (

Monitoring prevention or emergence of HIV drug resistance: results of a population-based foundational survey of early warning indicators in mainland Tanzania

BACKGROUND: In Tanzania, routine individual-level testing for HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) using laboratory genotyping and phenotyping is not feasible due to resource constraints. To monitor the prevention or emergence of HIVDR at a population level, WHO developed generic strategies to be adapted by countries, which include a set of early warning indicators (EWIs). METHODS: To establish a baseline of EWIs, we conducted a retrospective longitudinal survey of 35 purposively sampled care and treatment clinics in 17 regions of mainland Tanzania. We extracted data relevant for four EWIs (ART prescribing practices, patients lost to follow-up 12 months after ART initiation, retention on first-line ART at 12 months, and ART clinic appointment keeping in the first 12 months) from the patient monitoring system on patients who initiated ART at each respective facility in 2010. We uploaded patient information into WHO HIVResNet excel-based tool to compute national and facility averages of the EWIs and tested for associations between various programmatic factors and EWI performance using Fisher’s Exact Test. RESULTS: All sampled facilities met the WHO EWI target (100%) for ART prescribing practices. However, the national averages for patients lost to follow-up 12 months after ART initiation, retention on first-line ART at 12 months, and ART clinic appointment keeping in the first 12 months fell short, at 26%, 54% and 38%, respectively, compared to the WHO targets ≤ 20%, ≥ 70%, and ≥ 80%. Clinics with fewer patients lost to follow-up 12 months after ART initiation and more patients retained on first-line-ART at 12 months were more likely to have their patients spend the longest time in the facility (including wait-time and time with providers), (p = 0.011 and 0.007, respectively). CONCLUSION: Tanzania performed very well in EWI 1a, ART prescribing practices. However, its performance in other three EWIs was far below the WHO targets. This study provides a baseline for future monitoring of EWIs in Tanzania and highlights areas for improvement in the management of ART patients in order not only to prevent emergence of HIVDR due to programmatic factors, but also to improve the quality of life for ART patients

Decline in the prevalence HIV among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Tanzania, 2001-2011

Background: The Tanzania National AIDS Control Programme has established HIV sentinel surveillance among antenatal clinic (ANC) attendees as one of the methods for collecting data on HIV prevalence. This article provides trends on HIV prevalence for 92 sentinel sites that have constantly been part of the surveillance system since 2001 and have participated in at least three consecutive rounds.Method: The surveillance population included all pregnant women aged 15–49 years who were attending a selected sentinel ANC site for the first time for any pregnancy between 2001 and 2011. Serial testing for HIV infection was done anonymously by detecting for the presence of IgG antibodies to HIV on dried blood spot (DBS) specimens. HIV trends were calculated taking into account random effects from sites on the following variables:  region, sites and socio-demographic characteristics defined as age, marital status, parity, education level and duration of stay at present residence.Results: Overall, there was a significant decline in HIV prevalence from 9.6% in 2001 to 5.6% in 2011 (p<0.01). Specifically, the HIV prevalence among 15-24 years’ pregnant women significantly declined from 7.8% in 2001/2002 to 4% in 2011 (p<0.01). The decline in HIV prevalence occurred irrespective of residence, marital status, education level or previous pregnancies.Conclusion: There has been a significant decline in HIV infections among young pregnant women attending ANC clinics in Tanzania since 2001. This study also indicates that ANC surveillance among pregnant women over time can provide useful estimates of HIV situation between the population surveys

Incentivising safe sex: a randomised trial of conditional cash transfers for HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention in rural Tanzania

The authors evaluated the use of conditional cash transfers as an HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention strategy to incentivise safe sex. An unblinded, individually randomised and controlled trial. 10 villages within the Kilombero/Ulanga districts of the Ifakara Health and Demographic Surveillance System in rural south-west Tanzania. The authors enrolled 2399 participants, aged 18-30 years, including adult spouses. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control arm (n=1124) or one of two intervention arms: low-value conditional cash transfer (eligible for $10 per testing round, n=660) and high-value conditional cash transfer (eligible for$20 per testing round, n=615). The authors tested participants every 4 months over a 12-month period for the presence of common sexually transmitted infections. In the intervention arms, conditional cash transfer payments were tied to negative sexually transmitted infection test results. Anyone testing positive for a sexually transmitted infection was offered free treatment, and all received counselling. The primary study end point was combined prevalence of the four sexually transmitted infections, which were tested and reported to subjects every 4 months: Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis and Mycoplasma genitalium. The authors also tested for HIV, herpes simplex virus 2 and syphilis at baseline and month 12. At the end of the 12-month period, for the combined prevalence of any of the four sexually transmitted infections, which were tested and reported every 4 months (C trachomatis, N gonorrhoeae, T vaginalis and M genitalium), unadjusted RR for the high-value conditional cash transfer arm compared to controls was 0.80 (95% CI 0.54 to 1.06) and the adjusted RR was 0.73 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.99). Unadjusted RR for the high-value conditional cash transfer arm compared to the low-value conditional cash transfer arm was 0.76 (95% CI 0.49 to 1.03) and the adjusted RR was 0.69 (95% CI 0.45 to 0.92). No harm was reported. Conditional cash transfers used to incentivise safer sexual practices are a potentially promising new tool in HIV and sexually transmitted infections prevention. Additional larger study would be useful to clarify the effect size, to calibrate the size of the incentive and to determine whether the intervention can be delivered cost effectively. NCT00922038 ClinicalTrials.gov

Management of HIV and AIDS at lower primary health care facility in Chalinze, eastern Tanzania

Implementation of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) services at health centres in Tanzania were delayed due to several reasons including shortage of qualified staff, inadequate infrastructure and logistics problems. However, patients from peripheral areas experienced difficulties in accessing ART services due to long distances from clinics. National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) and Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) embarked on ART services scale-up programme aimed at improved ART availability and accessibility. Through this programme ART services were established at health centres and selected dispensaries. However, no previous documented experiences existed at country level to guide provision of services. Therefore, this study was designed to gather experiences and share lessons learnt with other health care providers and programme implementing partners. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study involved patients enrolled to ART services between May 2007 and April 2009. Data collection involved observation of health providers’ performance and retrospective ART and care patients’ registers review. During the study period, 611 care and 284 ART patients were attended. Majority of patients (85.1%; 762/895) were adults aged 25-45 years. In total 61.5% (550/895) of the patients had CD4+T lymphocytes ≤350/μl the cut-off point for initiating ART. The frequency of symptoms was noted to significantly decrease with increasing CD4 counts (P<0.001). Numbness, parotid enlargement and genital discharge were not related to patient level of CD4+T-lymphocytes counts. Papular pruritic eruptions 98/282 (34.8%), tuberculosis 86/282 (30.5%) and oesophageal candidiasis 37/282 (13.1) were the most diagnosed AIDS defining illnesses. Sixteen patients on care died and 30 were lost to follow up. Overall the clinical management was poorly performed. ART services can successively be provided at health centre level and encourages HIV-infected persons to seek care. However, clinicians need regular clinical mentorship and supportive supervision

cART prescription trends in a prospective HIV cohort in rural Tanzania from 2007 to 2011

Since 2010, World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines discourage using stavudine in first-line regimens due to frequent and severe side effects. This study describes the implementation of this recommendation and trends in usage of antiretroviral therapy combinations in a cohort of HIV-positive patients in rural Tanzania.; We analyzed longitudinal, prospectively collected clinical data of HIV-1 infected adults initiating antiretroviral therapy within the Kilombero Ulanga Antiretroviral Cohort (KIULARCO) in Ifakara, Tanzania from 2007-2011.; This analysis included data of 3008 patients. Median age was 38 (interquartile range [IQR] 31-45) years, 1962 (65.2%) of all subjects were female, and median CD4+ cell count at enrollment was 168 cells/mm3 (IQR 81-273). The percentage of prescriptions containing stavudine in initial regimens fell from a maximum of 75.3% in 2008 to 10.7% in 2011. TDF/FTC/EFV became available in 2009 and was used in 41.9% of patients initiating cART in 2011. An overall on-treatment analysis revealed that d4T/3TC/NVP and AZT/3TC/EFV were the most prescribed combinations in each year, including 2011 (674 [36.5%] and 641 [34.7%] patients, respectively). Of those receiving stavudine in 2011, 659 (89.1%) initiated it before 2011.; Initial cART with stavudine declined to low levels according to recommendations but the overall use of stavudine remained substantial, as individuals already on cART containing stavudine were not changed to alternative drugs. Our findings highlight the critical need to exchange stavudine in treatment regimens of patients who initiated therapy in earlier years

HIV and parasitic co-infections among patients seeking care at health facilities in Tanzania

Untreated tropical parasitic co-infections appear to speed the progression of HIV-1 disease. However, to date, there have been few studies conducted in resource limited settings to ascertain the interaction of parasitic co-infection where HIV/AIDS management largely depends on CD4+ T lymphocyte cells counts and WHO clinical staging. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of parasites, their association with CD4+ T lymphocyte cells changes and clinical manifestation of HIVinfection in patients attending HIV/AIDS management clinics in Tanzania. Adult HIV-infected patients registering for the first time at HIV/AIDS management clinics were recruited; with physical examination and laboratory tests performed at baseline and after 6 months. Patients were assigned a clinical stage and screened for helminths and Plasmodium sp. co-infection, CD4+ T lymphocyte cells, haemoglobin and HIV-1 p24 antigen. Of the 421 HIV-1 infected patients studied, 198 (47.0%) were coinfected with one or more parasites. Of those studied, 93/421(22.1%) had helminth only co-infection, and 50/421(12.9%) had Plasmodium sp only co-infection. Mixed Plasmodium sp and helminth coinfection was diagnosed in 55/421(13.0%) patients. Helminths frequently diagnosed included: hookworm 65/421(15.4%), Schistosomiasis 49/421(11.6%), Strongyloides stercoralis 57/421(13.5%), and Ascaris lumbricoides 54/421(12.8%). No statistical association was found between CD4+ T lymphocyte cells <200/μl, or WHO clinical stage III/IV with parasite co-infections (AOR 1.2, 95%CI 0.8-1.8). Anaemia was common in parasite co-infected patients (32.8% vs 18.8%). Parasite co-infection was associated with risk of anaemia (AOR 2.1, 95%CI 1.3-3.2). In multivariable logistic regression analysis, baseline CD4+ T lymphocyte cells <200/μl was significantly associated with CD4+ T lymphocyte cells <200/μl (AOR 2.4, 95%CI 1.3-4.7) at six months. HIV-1 P24 antigen mean concentration was higher in parasite co-infected patients (ranges 47.6 to 56.9) as compared to patients without parasite coinfection (5.5). We have looked at one set of parasites and found high prevalence of malaria and helminth co-infection in HIV-infected individuals. Given the available reports on health impacts of helminth co-infection in HIV/AIDS patients and the anecdotal reports of helminth’s health effects in HIV-uninfected persons, helminths and other prevalent parasites should not be ignored in HIV/AIDS programs. Based on local helminth epidemiology and HIV-infected cohort specific helminths coinfection prevalence data, mass treatment of soil transmitted helminths can be incorporated into HIV/AIDS management programmes

Prevalence of drug resistance mutations and HIV type 1 subtypes in an HIV type 1-infected cohort in rural Tanzania

The development of resistance mutations in drug-targeted HIV-1 genes compromises the success of antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs. Genotyping of these mutations enables adjusted therapeutic decisions both at the individual and population level. We investigated over time the prevalence of HIV-1 primary drug resistance mutations in treatment-naive patients and described the HIV-1 subtype distribution in a cohort in rural Tanzania at the beginning of the ART rollout in 2005-2007 and later in 2009. Viral RNA was analyzed in 387 baseline plasma samples from treatment-naive patients over a period of 5 years. The reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease genes were reversely transcribed, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified, and directly sequenced to identify HIV-1 subtypes and single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with drug resistance (DR-SNPs). The prevalence of major DR-SNPs in 2005-2007 in the RT gene was determined: K103N (5.0%), Y181C (2.5%), M184V (2.5%), and G190A (1.7%), and M41L, K65KR, K70KR, and L74LV (0.8%). In samples from 2009 only K103N (3.3%), M184V, and T215FY (0.8%) were detected. Initial frequencies of subtypes C, A, D, and recombinants were 43%, 32%, 18%, and 7%, respectively. Later similar frequencies were found except for the recombinants, which were found twice as often (15%), highlighting the subtype diversity and a relatively stable subtype frequency in the area. DR-SNPs were found at initiation of the cohort despite very low previous ART use in the area. Statistically, frequencies of major mutations did not change significantly over the studied 5-year interval. These mutations could reflect primary resistances and may indicate a possible risk for treatment failure