Integrating tuberculosis and HIV services in rural Kenya: uptake and outcomes

Seventeen rural public health facilities in Western Kenya that introduced three models of integrated care for tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients.

To assess the uptake and timing of cotrimoxazole preventive therapy (CPT) and antiretroviral treatment (ART) as well as anti-tuberculosis treatment outcomes among HIV-infected TB patients before (March-October 2010) and after (March-October 2012) the introduction of integrated TB-HIV care.

A before-and-after cohort study using programme data.

Of 501 HIV-infected TB patients, 357 (71%) were initiated on CPT and 178 (39%) on ART in the period before the introduction of integrated TB-HIV care. Following the integration of services, respectively 316 (98%) and 196 (61%) of 323 HIV-infected individuals were initiated on CPT and on ART (P < 0.001). The median time to CPT and ART initiation dropped from 7 to 2 days and from 42 to 34 days during the pre- and post-integration phases, respectively. Overall TB success rates did not vary with integration or with type of model instituted.

Integration of TB and HIV services enhanced uptake and reduced delay in instituting CPT and ART in rural health facilities. There is a need to increase impetus in these efforts.