Implementing prevention policies for mother-to-child transmission of HIV in rural Malawi, South Africa and United Republic of Tanzania, 2013-2016.

OBJECTIVE: To assess adoption of World Health Organization (WHO) guidance into national policies for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and to monitor implementation of guidelines at facility level in rural Malawi, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania. METHODS: We summarized national PMTCT policies and WHO guidance for 15 indicators across the cascades of maternal and infant care over 2013-2016. Two survey rounds were conducted (2013-2015 and 2015-2016) in 46 health facilities serving five health and demographic surveillance system populations. We administered structured questionnaires to facility managers to describe service delivery. We report the proportions of facilities implementing each indicator and the frequency and durations of stock-outs of supplies, by site and survey round. FINDINGS: In all countries, national policies influencing the maternal and infant PMTCT cascade of care aligned with WHO guidelines by 2016; most inter-country policy variations concerned linkage to routine HIV care. The proportion of facilities delivering post-test counselling, same-day antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation, antenatal care and ART provision in the same building, and Option B+ increased or remained at 100% in all sites. Progress in implementing policies on infant diagnosis and treatment varied across sites. Stock-outs of HIV test kits or antiretroviral drugs in the past year declined overall, but were reported by at least one facility per site in both rounds. CONCLUSION: Progress has been made in implementing PMTCT policy in these settings. However, persistent gaps across the infant cascade of care and supply-chain challenges, risk undermining infant HIV elimination goals.

Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Health Workers and General Public in Tanzania.

Background: Insufficient knowledge about COVID-19 and low socioeconomic status have been associated with distrustful attitudes towards vaccination against COVID-19. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among the general population and health workers. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in 16 councils which included; Milele, Mpanda, Newala, Simanjiro, Nanyumbu, Muleba, Longido, Ulanga, Igunga, Mbulu, Karatu, Mufindi, Mvomero, Kilolo and Tabora Town. A total of 427 health care workers and 1,907 individuals were sampled from health facilities and households. Structured questionnaires were used to collect the required information. Results: Although the majority (93.2%) of health workers were vaccinated, 35.4% perceived their risk of getting COVID-19 infection as high. Self-reported uptake of COVID-19 vaccine was 42.4% among the general population. Significantly low proportion of the general population in Mufindi district council (7.5%) were vaccinated against COVID-19. Health workers' knowledge and perception on COVID-19 vaccination did not vary with socio-demographic factors. Among the general population, those who were separated/divorced (ARR: 0.8: 95% CI; 0.7 to 0.9), those who attained primary level of education (ARR: 0.8: 95% CI; 0.7 to 0.9), self-employed (ARR: 0.8: 95% CI; 0.7 to 0.9) and unemployed (ARR: 0.7: 95% CI; 0.6 to 0.8) were less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Having positive attitude (ARR: 1.2: 95% CI; 1.1 to 1.5) and perception (ARR:1.8: 95% CI; 1.5 to 2.2), and knowledge on COVID-19 prevention (ARR: 3.0: 95% CI; 2.1to 4.4) increased the likelihood COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Prior experience of vaccination against other diseases (ARR:1.2: 95% CI; 1.0 to1.3), having history of chronic diseases (ARR:1.3: 95% CI; 1.2 to 1.4) and a family member who died of COVID-19 (ARR:1.3: 95% CI; 1.1to1.4) were also determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Conclusion: Uptake of COVID-19 vaccine among the general population was significantly low among individuals with primary level of education, self-employed, unemployed, and those who were divorced or separated. Individuals with comprehensive knowledge on COVID-19 vaccination, those with positive attitude and perception on COVID-19 vaccination, having history of chronic diseases, prior vaccination against other diseases, and having a family member who succumbed to COVID-19 increased the likelihood COVID-19 vaccine uptake among the general population. Provision of health education and implementation of socio-behavioural communication change interventions are necessary to equip the general population with appropriate knowledge to transform their negative attitude and perception on COVID-19 vaccination.

The prevalence of vertical transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and associated factors among exposed infants in Eastern Lake zone and Southern Highland of Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Globally, the rate of antiretroviral therapy coverage for pregnant women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) increased by 38% between 2010 and 2015 but only by 2% between 2016 and 2020. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine the prevalence of vertical transmission of HIV among infants from mothers living with HIV and associated factors in the Eastern Lake Zone and Southern Highland of Tanzania from January to December 2022. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study extracted data from the Open Laboratory Data Repository database collected from January to December 2022 at 93 health facilities. A total of 1,411 infants exposed to HIV from the Mbeya (851), Songwe (304), and Mara regions (256) were enrolled. RESULTS: The prevalence for vertical transmission of HIV was 2.48% (35/1411). We observed a non-significant difference in the prevalence of vertical transmission in children whose first test was done below six weeks of life (1.89%) and other age groups (2.52-2.62%) (p < 0.917). Children not given antiretroviral prophylaxis had eleven times higher odds of acquiring infection (AOR 11.39, 95% CI: 3.61-35.97). Mothers who were not on ART during pregnancy had three times the odds of transmitting HIV to their infants (AOR 3.03, 95%CI: 0.91-10.15). CONCLUSIONS: We found a low prevalence of vertical transmission of HIV compared to previous studies done in Tanzania. The use of ART prophylaxis for infants exposed to HIV is significantly associated with the low rate of HIV transmission.

Vertical HIV transmission within 18 months post partum among women on lifelong antiretroviral therapy for HIV in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The UNAIDS estimate of vertical HIV transmission in Tanzania is high (11%), despite 84% uptake of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among pregnant women with HIV. We aimed to evaluate vertical transmission and its determinants by 18 months post partum among women on lifelong ART in routine health-care settings in Tanzania. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study in 226 health facitilies across Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Eligible participants were pregnant women of any age with HIV, and later their infants, who enrolled in routine health-care services for the prevention of vertical transmission. We prospectively followed up mother-infant pairs at routine monthly visits until 18 months post partum and extracted data from the care and treatment clinic (CTC2) database, a national electronic database that stores patient-level HIV care and treatment clinic data. The primary outcome was time from birth to HIV diagnosis, defined as a positive infant HIV DNA PCR or antibody test from age 18 months. We used the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate cumulative risk of vertical transmission by 18 months post partum and Cox proportional hazards regression with shared frailties to account for potential clustering in health facilities to evaluate predictors of transmission. FINDINGS: Between Jan 1, 2015, and Dec 31, 2017, 22 930 pregnant women with HIV (median age 30 years, IQR 25-34) enrolled on a care programme. After excluding 9140 (39·9%) women and 539 (2·4%) infants with missing outcome data, 13 251 (59·0%) mother-infant pairs were analysed, of whom 6072 (45·8%) women were already on ART before pregnancy. By 18 months post partum, 159 (1·2%) of 13 251 infants were diagnosed with HIV, equivalent to a risk of vertical transmission of 1·4% (95% CI 1·2-1·6). In the complete case analysis, the rates of vertical transmission were higher among women who enrolled in the third trimester of pregnancy than among those who enrolled in the first trimester (adjusted hazard ratio 3·01, 95% CI 1·59-5·70; p=0·0003), among women with advanced HIV disease than among those with early-stage disease (1·89, 1·22-2·93; p=0·0046), and among women who were on a second-line ART regimen than among those on a first-line regimen (3·58, 1·08-11·82; p=0·037). By contrast, the rate of vertical transmission was lower among women who were already on ART at enrolment than among those starting ART at enrolment (0·39, 0·25-0·60; p<0·0001) as well as among women in high-volume clinics than among those in low-volume clinics (0·46 (0·24-0·90; p<0·0097). INTERPRETATION: Provision of ART for life (WHO's option B+ recommendation) has reduced the risk of vertical transmission to less than 2% among pregnant women with HIV in routine care settings in urban Tanzania. There is still a need to improve timely HIV diagnosis and ART uptake, and to optimise follow-up for the prevention of vertical transmission and the uptake of infant HIV testing. FUNDING: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.