Category Archives: Prevention, Engagement and Care Cascade
Shifting tasks from pharmacy to non-pharmacy personnel for providing antiretroviral therapy to people living with HIV: A systematic review and meta-analysis
OBJECTIVES: Lay people or non-pharmacy health workers with training could dispense antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource-constrained countries, freeing up time for pharmacists to focus on more technical tasks. We assessed...
Effectiveness of community-based condom distribution interventions to prevent HIV in the United States: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Despite significant public health implications, the extent to which community-based condom distribution interventions (CDI) prevent HIV infection in the United States is not well understood. METHODS: We systematically reviewed...
Implementation effectiveness of revised (post-2010) World Health Organization guidelines on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV using routinely collected data in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic literature review
BACKGROUND: To synthesize and evaluate the impact of implementing post-2010 World Health Organization (WHO) prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) guidelines on attainment of PMTCT targets. METHODS: Retrospective and prospective cohort...
Does being drunk or high cause HIV sexual risk behavior? A systematic review of drug administration studies
HIV sexual risk behavior is broadly associated with substance use. Yet critical questions remain regarding the potential causal link between substance use (e.g., intoxication) and HIV sexual risk behavior. The...
Evidence on the cost-effectiveness of lifelong antiretroviral therapy for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV: Implications for resource-limited countries in sub-Saharan Africa
INTRODUCTION: The 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) consolidated guideline recommends lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all HIV-infected pregnant and breastfeeding women for preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT). Ambiguity remains about...
Behavioural interventions promoting condom use among female sex workers in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review
The objective of this review was to provide an overview of behavioural interventions promoting condom use amongst female sex workers (FSW) in sub-Saharan Africa. A search of four electronic bibliographic...
Choice of initial antiretroviral drugs and treatment outcomes among HIV-infected patients in sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies
BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART) depends on the choice of regimens during initiation. Most evidences from developed countries indicated that there is difference between efavirenz (EFV) and nevirapine...
Effect of frequency of clinic visits and medication pick-up on antiretroviral treatment outcomes: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis
INTRODUCTION: Expanding and sustaining antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage may require simplified HIV service delivery strategies that concomitantly reduce the burden of care on the health system and patients while ensuring...
Meta-analysis of alcohol and serodiscordant condomless sex among people living with HIV
While observational studies have found that alcohol consumption is associated with serodiscordant condomless sex among people living with HIV (PLHIV), no meta-analysis has yet examined this trend. We conducted a...
An exploration of group-based HIV/AIDS treatment and care models in Sub-Saharan Africa using a realist evaluation (Intervention-Context-Actor-Mechanism-Outcome) heuristic tool: A systematic review
INTRODUCTION: It is increasingly acknowledged that differentiated care models hold potential to manage large volumes of patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Various group-based models of ART service delivery aimed at...
Sex in the shadow of HIV: A systematic review of prevalence, risk factors, and interventions to reduce sexual risk-taking among HIV-positive adolescents and youth in sub-Saharan Africa
BACKGROUND: Evidence on sexual risk-taking among HIV-positive adolescents and youth in sub-Saharan Africa is urgently needed. This systematic review synthesizes the extant research on prevalence, factors associated with, and interventions...
Improving retention in HIV care among adolescents and adults in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review of the literature
INTRODUCTION: Adolescents living with HIV are an underserved population, with poor retention in HIV health care services and high mortality, who are in need of targeted effective interventions. We conducted...
