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Brief Report: Decentralizing ART Supply for Stable HIV Patients to Community-Based Distribution Centers: Program
Florian Vogt1, Lucien Kalenga, Jean Lukela
1*Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; †Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; ‡Réseau National des Organisations d'Assise Communautaires, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; §Ministry of Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; ‖Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, Brussels, Belgium; and ¶World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Facility-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) provision for stable patients with HIV congests health services in resource-limited countries. We assessed outcomes and risk factors for attrition after decentralization to community-based ART refill centers among 2603 patients with HIV in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, using a multilevel Poisson regression model. Death, loss to follow-up, and transfer out were 0.3%, 9.0%, and 0.7%, respectively, at 24 months. Overall attrition was 5.66/100 person-years. Patients with >3 years on ART, >500 cluster of differentiation type-4 count, body mass index >18.5, and receiving nevirapine but not stavudine showed reduced attrition. ART refill centers are a promising task-shifting model in low-prevalence urban settings with high levels of stigma and poor ART coverage.
