Category Archives: Health Systems

BACKGROUND: There is increasing debate about the impact of scaled-up HIV/AIDS programmes on fragile healthcare systems in low-income countries. OBJECTIVES: To contribute to the understanding of the relation between HIV/AIDS...

Background: The challenge for evidence-based healthcare is to reduce mortality and the burden of diseases. This study aimed to compare where research is conducted to where research is needed for...

Objective: Poor medication adherence is a longstanding problem, and is especially pertinent for individuals with chronic conditions or diseases. Adherence to medications can improve patient outcomes and greatly reduce the...

Background: Extensive evidence shows that well over 50% of people prefer to be cared for and to die at home provided circumstances allow choice. Despite best efforts and policies, one-third...

INTRODUCTION: Point-of-care testing for CD4 cell count is considered a promising way of reducing the time to eligibility assessment for antiretroviral therapy (ART) and of increasing retention in care prior...

The present study is a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions for women in the USA. Twenty-four articles from 1989-1997 were included. We evaluated five ethnic groupings (All...

Tuberculosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in people with HIV and about a quarter of HIV-related deaths are attributed to tuberculosis. In this Review we identify and...

BACKGROUND: Unprotected sex is a major risk factor for disease, disability, and mortality in many areas of the world due to the prevalence and incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STI)...

Case management has been implemented in substance abuse treatment to improve (cost-) effectiveness, but controversy exists about its potential to realize this objective. A systematic and comprehensive review of peer-reviewed...

The effectiveness of HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) in reducing HIV risk behaviors in developing countries was assessed using meta-analytic methods. A standardized protocol was used for searching, acquiring,...

Retaining HIV-diagnosed persons in care is a national priority, but little is known on what intervention strategies are most effective for promoting retention in care. We conducted a systematic search...

OBJECTIVE: Ethical guidelines are designed to ensure benefits, protection and respect of participants in clinical research. Clinical trials must now be registered on open-access databases and provide details on ethical...