Category Archives: Delivery arrangements
How care is organized
Conceptualizing care continua: Lessons from HIV, hepatitis C virus, tuberculosis and implications for the development of improved care and prevention continua
BACKGROUND: To examine the application of continuum models to tuberculosis, HIV, and other conditions; to theorize the concept of continua; and to learn lessons that could inform the development of...
The global pendulum swing towards community health workers in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review of trends, geographical distribution and programmatic orientations, 2005 to 2014
BACKGROUND: There has been a substantial increase in publications and interest in community health workers (CHWs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) over the last years. This paper examines the...
Barriers and facilitators of interventions for improving antiretroviral therapy adherence: A systematic review of global qualitative evidence
INTRODUCTION: Qualitative research on antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence interventions can provide a deeper understanding of intervention facilitators and barriers. This systematic review aims to synthesize qualitative evidence of interventions for...
Effectiveness of pharmacy-based needle/syringe exchange programme for people who inject drugs: A systematic review and meta-analysis
AIMS: To appraise the evidence critically for effectiveness of pharmacy-based needle/syringe exchange programmes (pharmacy-based NSPs) on risk behaviours (RBs), HIV/HCV prevalence and economic outcomes among people who inject drugs (PWID)....
The contribution of unsafe blood transfusion to human immunodeficiency virus incidence in sub-Saharan Africa: Reexamination of the 5% to 10% convention
BACKGROUND: Historical estimates have attributed 5% to 10% of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to unsafe blood transfusions. Although frequently cited, the validity of this...
Paediatric HIV testing beyond the context of prevention of mother-to-child transmission: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Many HIV-positive children in low-income and middle-income countries remain undiagnosed. Although HIV testing in children at health facilities is recommended by WHO, it is not well implemented. This systematic...
Scoping review: Strategies of providing care for children with chronic health conditions in low- and middle-income countries
OBJECTIVES: To identify and review strategies of providing care for children living with chronic health conditions in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE and Cochrane EPOC databases for...
Mobile phone interventions for adolescent sexual and reproductive health: A systematic review
CONTEXT: Interventions for adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) are increasingly using mobile phones but may not effectively report evidence. OBJECTIVE: To assess strategies, findings, and quality of evidence on...
The effect of HIV counselling and testing on HIV acquisition in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review
OBJECTIVES: Annually, millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) receive HIV counselling and testing (HCT), a service designed to inform persons of their HIV status and, if HIV uninfected, reduce...
Effective non-drug interventions for improving outcomes and quality of maternal health care in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review
BACKGROUND: Many interventions have been implemented to improve maternal health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Currently, however, systematic information on the effectiveness of these interventions remains scarce. We conducted a...
Interventions to improve the rate or timing of initiation of antiretroviral therapy for HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: Meta-analyses of effectiveness
INTRODUCTION: As global policy evolves toward initiating lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) regardless of CD4 count, initiating individuals newly diagnosed with HIV on ART as efficiently as possible will become increasingly...
