Category Archives: Testing
The impact of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes on maternal health care in resource-poor settings: Looking beyond the PMTCT programme – a systematic review
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...
The cost-effectiveness of preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in low- and middle-income countries: Systematic review
Background: Although highly effective prevention interventions exist, the epidemic of paediatric HIV continues to challenge control efforts in resource-limited settings. We reviewed the cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission...
Modeling the cost-effectiveness of HIV treatment: how to buy the most ‘health’ when resources are limited
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To summarize recent cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) that evaluate optimal treatment strategies for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). RECENT FINDINGS: Efforts to attain universal coverage of current treatment...
Low levels of HIV test coverage in clinical settings in the U.K.: A systematic review of adherence to 2008 guidelines
OBJECTIVES: To quantify the extent to which guideline recommendations for routine testing for HIV are adhered to outside of genitourinary medicine (GUM), sexual health (SH) and antenatal clinics. METHODS: A...
Role and outcomes of community health workers in HIV care in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review
Introduction: The provision of HIV treatment and care in sub-Saharan Africa faces multiple challenges, including weak health systems and attrition of trained health workers. One potential response to overcome these...
Towards universal voluntary HIV testing and counselling: A systematic review and meta-analysis of community-based approaches
BACKGROUND: Effective national and global HIV responses require a significant expansion of HIV testing and counselling (HTC) to expand access to prevention and care. Facility-based HTC, while essential, is unlikely...
Yield of HIV-associated tuberculosis during intensified case finding in resource-limited settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Intensified case finding is the regular screening for evidence of tuberculosis in people infected with HIV, at high risk of HIV, or living in congregate settings. We systematically reviewed studies...
Integration of HIV/AIDS services with maternal, neonatal and child health, nutrition, and family planning services
Background: The integration of HIV/AIDS and maternal, neonatal, child health and nutrition services (MNCHN), including family planning (FP) is recognized as a key strategy to reduce maternal and child mortality...
Performance of commercial herpes simplex virus type-2 antibody tests using serum samples from Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Several commercial type-specific serologic tests are available for herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Poor specificity of some tests has been reported on samples from sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: To...
Universal voluntary HIV testing in antenatal care settings: A review of the contribution of provider-initiated testing & counselling
Objective To assess the contribution of provider-initiated testing and counselling (PITC) to achieving universal testing of pregnant women and, from available data on components of PITC, assess whether PITC adoption...
