Studies Identify Barriers, Solutions in HIV Programs

published on June 8, 2020 by Aislinn Antrim, Assistant Editor, in Pharmacy Times

Two studies from Flinders University have identified several underlying problems faced by HIV programs in African countries, including a lack of nutritional programs for poor patients and inefficient systems that discourage people from using them. Closing these gaps in care could improve access for those worse affected by HIV in developing countries.

Programs managing HIV in developing countries face many obstacles, including socioeconomic and structural roadblocks. While programs for the broader populations have improved in recent decades, the 2 recent studies from Flinders University focused on the impact of nutritional programs and the treatment of prisoners with HIV.

The first study, which examined contextual and individual factors influencing nutritional programs, focused on the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Addressing malnutrition is a major component of HIV care, and the specific program analyzed was implemented in 2010 across patients in Ethiopia with HIV. Patients were enrolled in the program for 3 months for mild acute malnutrition and for 6 months for severe acute malnutrition.

The investigators found that of 1757 adult patients, 55.3% recovered from malnutrition, 19% did not complete the program, and 21% completed the program but did not recover from malnutrition. Patients who were living in urban areas, employed, in clinical stages II and III, on antiretroviral therapy (ART) for less than 6 months, and diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition at enrollment were less likely to complete the program.

These findings led the researchers to conclude that there was a clear link between both contextual factors and individual patient characteristics, and the effectiveness of the program.

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Studies Identify Barriers, Solutions in HIV Programs

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