Addressing barriers to the end of AIDS by 2030

Consistency of Multi-Month Antiretroviral Therapy Dispensing and Association with Viral Load Coverage among Pediatric Clients Living with HIV in Mozambique

With the increase in uptake of multi-month antiretroviral therapy dispensing (MMD) for children, little is known about consistency of MMD receipt over time and its association with virological outcomes. This analysis aims to assess the uptake of 3-month MMD among children, consistent receipt of MMD after uptake, and clinical outcomes following transition to MMD in 16 health facilities in Gaza and Inhambane Provinces. This is a secondary analysis involving children <15 years living with HIV with clinical visits during the period from September 2019 to August 2020. Of 4383 children, 82% ever received MMD (at least one pickup of a 3-month MMD supply) during the study period but only 40% received it consistently (defined as MMD at every visit during the study period). Consistent MMD was most common among older children and children without indications of clinical instability. Overall viral load (VL) coverage was 40% (733/1851). Consistent MMD was significantly associated with lower odds of having a VL (0.78, 95% CI: 0.64-0.95). In conclusion, while receipt of a multi-month supply was common particularly during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, only a minority of children received consistent MMD; however, there is a need to ensure children with fewer visits still receive timely VL monitoring.

The Influence of Anticipated HIV Stigma on Health-related Behaviors, Self-rated Health, and Treatment Preferences Among People Living with HIV in East Asia

Long-acting injectable regimens for HIV treatment have been developed which are less frequent, more discreet, and more desirable for some people living with HIV (PLHIV) and may help reduce stigma-related barriers to HIV treatment. However, there is little information on the relationship between reported stigma and preference for these newer treatments. We characterized anticipated, experienced, and internalized HIV stigma and examined the associations with treatment preferences among an international sample of PLHIV. Data came from the international, web-based, cross-sectional study called "Positive Perspectives" conducted among PLHIV aged ≥ 18 years in 25 geographic locations during 2019 (n = 2389). Descriptive analyses were stratified among East Asian (n = 230) vs. non-Asian (n = 2159) participants. Results showed that prevalence of anticipated stigma was significantly higher among East Asian than non-Asian participants (72.2%[166/230] vs. 63.8%[1377/2159], p = 0.011). A significantly higher percentage of East Asian (68.7%[158/230]) than non-Asian participants (43.3%[935/2159] indicated that someone finding their HIV pills would cause them much "stress or anxiety" (p < 0.001). Actions taken by some PLHIV to prevent unwanted disclosure included restricting who they shared their HIV status with, hiding their HIV pills, or even skipping a dose altogether because of privacy concerns. Overall, 50.0%[115/230] East Asian participants believed HIV would reduce their lifespan and 43.0%[99/230] no longer planned for their old age because of HIV. Anticipated stigma was strongly associated with receptivity to non-daily regimens. Concerted efforts to reduce stigma and deliver flexible treatment options that address the unmet treatment needs of PLHIV, including confidentiality concerns, may improve their health-related quality of life.

HIV programmatic outcomes following implementation of the 'Treat-All' policy in a public sector setting in Eswatini: a prospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION

The Treat-All policy - antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation irrespective of CD4 cell criteria - increases access to treatment. Many ART programmes, however, reported increasing attrition and viral failure during treatment expansion, questioning the programmatic feasibility of Treat-All in resource-limited settings. We aimed to describe and compare programmatic outcomes between Treat-All and standard of care (SOC) in the public sectors of Eswatini.

METHODS

This is a prospective cohort study of ≥16-year-old HIV-positive patients initiated on first-line ART under Treat-All and SOC in 18 health facilities of the Shiselweni region, from October 2014 to March 2016. SOC followed the CD4 350 and 500 cells/mm3 treatment eligibility thresholds. Kaplan-Meier estimates were used to describe crude programmatic outcomes. Multivariate flexible parametric survival models were built to assess associations of time from ART initiation with the composite unfavourable outcome of all-cause attrition and viral failure.

RESULTS

Of the 3170 patients, 1888 (59.6%) initiated ART under Treat-All at a median CD4 cell count of 329 (IQR 168 to 488) cells/mm3 compared with 292 (IQR 161 to 430) (p < 0.001) under SOC. Although crude programme retention at 36 months tended to be lower under Treat-All (71%) than SOC (75%) (p = 0.002), it was similar in covariate-adjusted analysis (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.06, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.23). The hazard of viral suppression was higher for Treat-All (aHR 1.12, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.23), while the hazard of viral failure was comparable (Treat-All: aHR 0.89, 95% CI 0.53 to 1.49). Among patients with advanced HIV disease (n = 1080), those under Treat-All (aHR 1.13, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.44) had a similar risk of an composite unfavourable outcome to SOC. Factors increasing the risk of the composite unfavourable outcome under both interventions were aged 16 to 24 years, being unmarried, anaemia, ART initiation on the same day as HIV care enrolment and CD4 ≤ 100 cells/mm3 . Under Treat-All only, the risk of the unfavourable outcome was higher for pregnant women, WHO III/IV clinical stage and elevated creatinine.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to SOC, Treat-All resulted in comparable retention, improved viral suppression and comparable composite outcomes of retention without viral failure.

Population uptake and effectiveness of test-and-treat antiretroviral therapy guidelines for preventing the global spread of HIV: an ecological cross-national analysis

OBJECTIVES

Although the benefits of adopting test-and-treat antiretroviral therapy (ART) guidelines that recommend initiation of ART regardless of CD4 cell counts have been demonstrated at the individual level, there is uncertainty about how this translates to the population level. Here, we explored whether adopting ART guidelines recommending earlier treatment initiation improves population ART access and viral suppression and reduces overall disease transmission.

METHODS

Data on ART initiation guidelines and treatment coverage, viral suppression, and HIV incidence from 37 European and Central Asian countries were collected from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the Global HIV Policy Watch and HIV 90-90-90 Watch databases. We used multivariate linear regression models to quantify the association of ART initiation guidelines with population ART access, viral suppression, and HIV incidence, adjusting for potential confounding factors.

RESULTS

Test-and-treat policies were associated with 15.2 percentage points (pp) [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.8-29.6 pp; P = 0.039] greater treatment coverage (proportion of HIV-positive people on ART) compared with countries with ART initiation at CD4 cell counts ≤ 350 cells/μL. The presence of test-and-treat policies was associated with 15.8 pp (95% CI 2.4-29.1 pp; P = 0.023) higher viral suppression rates (people on ART virally suppressed) compared with countries with treatment initiation at CD4 counts ≤ 350 cells/μL. ART initiation at CD4 counts ≤ 500 cells/μL did not significantly improve ART coverage compared to initiation at CD4 counts ≤ 350 cells/μL but achieved similar degrees of viral suppression as test-and-treat.

CONCLUSIONS

Test-and-treat was found to be associated with substantial improvements in population-level access to ART and viral suppression, further strengthening evidence that rapid initiation of treatment will help curb the spread of HIV.

Programmatic outcomes and impact of rapid public sector antiretroviral therapy expansion in adults prior to introduction of the WHO treat-all approach in rural Eswatini

OBJECTIVES

To assess long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) outcomes during rapid HIV programme expansion in the public sector of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland).

METHODS

This is a retrospectively established cohort of HIV-positive adults (≥16 years) who started first-line ART in 25 health facilities in Shiselweni (Eswatini) between 01/2006 and 12/2014. Temporal trends in ART attrition, treatment expansion and ART coverage were described over 9 years. We used flexible parametric survival models to assess the relationship between time to ART attrition and covariates.

RESULTS

Of 24 772 ART initiations, 6% (n = 1488) occurred in 2006, vs. 13% (n = 3192) in 2014. Between these years, median CD4 cell count at ART initiation increased (113-265 cells/mm3 ). The active treatment cohort expanded 8.4-fold, ART coverage increased 8.0-fold (7.1% in 2006 vs. 56.8% in 2014) and 12-month crude ART retention improved from 71% to 86%. Compared with the pre-decentralisation period (2006-2007), attrition decreased by 5% (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.95, 95% confidence interval 0.88-1.02) during HIV-TB service decentralisation (2008-2010), by 17% (aHR 0.83, 0.75-0.92) during service consolidation (2011-2012), and by 20% (aHR 0.80, 0.71-0.90) during further treatment expansion (2013-2014). The risk of attrition was higher for young age, male sex, pathological baseline haemoglobin and biochemistry results, more toxic drug regimens, WHO III/IV staging and low CD4 cell count; access to a telephone was protective.

CONCLUSIONS

Programmatic outcomes improved during large expansion of the treatment cohort and increased ART coverage. Changes in ART programming may have contributed to better outcomes.