New approach to HIV management in Tanzania and Zambia reduces deaths by almost a third
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, March 2015 - A new approach to care for patients with advanced HIV in Tanzania and Zambia, combining community support and screening for a type of meningitis, has reduced deaths by 28%.
The research, published in The Lancet, suggests that a simple low-cost intervention could be an effective approach to reducing HIV-related deaths in Africa.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the National Institute of Medical Research Tanzania, the University Teaching Hospital in Zambia and St Georges University of London conducted a randomised trial of 1,999 HIV patients in Tanzania and Zambia.
They enrolled patients beginning HIV treatment who had advanced HIV disease. Most of the deaths in African HIV programmes occur in this group at around the time or just shortly after HIV treatment is started. All patients were firstly screened for tuberculosis and started quickly on HIV treatment. Patients were then given either standard care from a clinic, or given additional care which consisted of screening for cryptococcal meningitis as well as weekly home visits for the first four weeks from lay workers to support them with antiretroviral therapy.