Category Archives: Health Systems
Retention of HIV-infected children in the first 12 months of anti-retroviral therapy and predictors of attrition in resource limited settings: A systematic review
Current UNAIDS goals aimed to end the AIDS epidemic set out to ensure that 90% of all people living with HIV know their status, 90% initiate and continue life-long anti-retroviral...
POC CD4 testing improves linkage to HIV care and timeliness of ART initiation in a public health approach: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: CD4 cell count is an important test in HIV programs for baseline risk assessment, monitoring of ART where viral load is not available, and, in many settings, antiretroviral therapy...
Adolescent sexual and reproductive health services and implications for the provision of voluntary medical male circumcision: Results of a systematic literature review
BACKGROUND: Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) is a critical HIV prevention tool. Since 2007, sub-Saharan African countries with the highest prevalence of HIV have been mobilizing resources to make VMMC...
Barriers and enablers to integrating maternal and child health services to antenatal care in low and middle income countries
Antenatal care (ANC) represents a delivery platform for a broad range of health services; however, these opportunities are insufficiently utilised. This review explores key barriers and enablers for successful integration...
Interventions targeting sexual and reproductive health and rights outcomes of young people living with HIV: A comprehensive review of current interventions from sub-Saharan Africa
BACKGROUND: A growing number of young people (ages 10-24) are living with HIV (YPLWH) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These YPLWH have particular needs and challenges related to their sexual and...
Health system and community level interventions for improving antenatal care coverage and health outcomes
BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least four antenatal care (ANC) visits for all pregnant women. Almost half of pregnant women worldwide, and especially in developing countries do...
Facilitators and barriers in HIV linkage to care interventions: A qualitative evidence review
OBJECTIVE: To synthesize qualitative evidence on linkage to care interventions for people living with HIV. DESIGN: Systematic literature review. METHODS: We searched nineteen databases for studies reporting qualitative evidence on...
Option B+ for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection in developing countries: A review of published cost-effectiveness analyses
OBJECTIVE: To review the published literature on the cost effectiveness of Option B+ (lifelong antiretroviral therapy) for preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV during pregnancy and breastfeeding to inform decision...
Dynamic transmission economic evaluation of infectious disease interventions in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic literature review
Economic evaluation using dynamic transmission models is important for capturing the indirect effects of infectious disease interventions. We examine the use of these methods in low- and middle-income countries, where...
Incidence of opportunistic infections and the impact of antiretroviral therapy among HIV-infected adults in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: To understand regional burdens and inform delivery of health services, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on incidence of key...
