RESUMO
Uncircumcised adolescent males in sub-Saharan Africa are an important group to reach with voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services due to high HIV burden occurring among this age group. Appropriateness of the content and delivery of sexual health and HIV prevention messages to adolescent VMMC clients has not been extensively described. A study was conducted in Tanzania to examine quality, delivery and content of messages provided to adolescent (aged 15-19) and adult (aged 20+) VMMC clients (n = 320). Results show that counseling of mixed age groups during group education lacked selected key messages, compared to more age-homogeneous groups. Additionally, adolescents received more comprehensive information in individual counseling compared to group education. We recommend that health care providers are provided with skills and job aides to assist them to segment VMMC clients by age; provide age-appropriate messages; and increase use of individual counseling as a means to communicate with adolescent clients.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina/psicologia , Infecções por HIV/prevenção & controle , Adolescente , Adulto , Circuncisão Masculina/etnologia , Atenção à Saúde/métodos , Infecções por HIV/etnologia , Humanos , Masculino , Tanzânia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Globally, over half of the estimated new HIV infections now occur among key populations, including men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, transgender individuals, and people in prisons and other closed settings, and their sexual partners. Reaching epidemic control will, for many countries, increasingly require intensified programming and targeted resource allocation to meet the needs of key populations and their sexual partners. However, insufficient funding, both in terms of overall amounts and the way the funding is spent, contributes to the systematic marginalization of key populations from needed HIV services. DISCUSSION: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has recently highlighted the urgent need to take action to end inequalities, including those faced by key populations, which have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To address these inequalities and improve health outcomes, key population programs must expand the use of a trusted access platform, scale up differentiated service delivery models tailored to the needs of key populations, rollout structural interventions and ensure service integration. These critical program elements are often considered "extras," not necessities, and consequently costing studies of key population programs systematically underestimate the total and unitary costs of services for key populations. Findings from a recent costing study from the LINKAGES project suggest that adequate funding for these four program elements can yield benefits in program performance. Despite this and other evidence, the lack of data on the true costs of these elements and the costs of failing to provide them prevents sufficient investment in these critical elements. CONCLUSIONS: As nations strive to reach the 2030 UNAIDS goals, donors, governments and implementers should reconsider the true, but often hidden costs in future healthcare dollars and in lives if they fail to invest in the community-based and community-driven key population programs that address structural inequities. Supporting these efforts contributes to closing the remaining gaps in the 95-95-95 goals. The financial and opportunity cost of perpetuating inequities and missing those who must be reached in the last mile of HIV epidemic control must be considered.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Infecções por HIV , Minorias Sexuais e de Gênero , Infecções por HIV/tratamento farmacológico , Infecções por HIV/epidemiologia , Infecções por HIV/prevenção & controle , Homossexualidade Masculina , Humanos , Masculino , Pandemias/prevenção & controleRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Previous WHO guidance on tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-based oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) suggests measuring creatinine levels at PrEP initiation and regularly afterwards, which might represent barriers to PrEP implementation and uptake. We aimed to systematically review published literature on kidney toxicity among tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-based oral PrEP users and conducted an individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA) on kidney function among PrEP users in a global implementation project dataset. METHODS: In this systematic review and meta-analysis we searched PubMed up to June 30, 2021, for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or cohort studies that reported on graded kidney-related adverse events among oral PrEP users (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-based PrEP alone or in combination with emtricitabine or lamivudine). We extracted summary data and conducted meta-analyses with random-effects models to estimate relative risks of grade 1 and higher and grade 2 and higher kidney-related adverse events, measured by elevated serum creatinine or decline in estimated creatinine clearance or estimated glomerular filtration rate. The IPDMA included (largely unpublished) individual participant data from 17 PrEP implementation projects and two RCTs. Estimated baseline creatinine clearance and creatinine clearance change after initiation were described by age, gender, and comorbidities. We used random-effects regressions to estimate the risk in decline of creatinine clearance to less than 60 mL/min. FINDINGS: We identified 62 unique records and included 17 articles reporting on 11 RCTs with 13 523 participants in meta-analyses. PrEP use was associated with increased risk of grade 1 and higher kidney adverse events (pooled odds ratio [OR] 1·49, 95% CI 1·22-1·81; I2=25%) and grade 2 and higher events (OR 1·75, 0·68-4·49; I2=0%), although the grade 2 and higher association was not statistically significant and events were rare (13 out of 6764 in the intervention group vs six out of 6782 in the control group). The IPDMA included 18 676 individuals from 15 countries (1453 [7·8%] from RCTs) and 79 (0·42%) had a baseline estimated creatinine clearance of less than 60 mL/min (increasing proportions with increasing age). Longitudinal analyses included 14 368 PrEP users and 349 (2·43%) individuals had a decline to less than 60 mL/min creatinine clearance, with higher risks associated with increasing age and baseline creatinine clearance of 60·00-89·99 mL/min (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 8·49, 95% CI 6·44-11·20) and less than 60 mL/min (aHR 20·83, 12·83-33·82). INTERPRETATION: RCTs suggest that risks of kidney-related adverse events among tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-based oral PrEP users are increased but generally mild and small. Our global PrEP user analysis found varying risks by age and baseline creatinine clearance. Kidney function screening and monitoring might focus on older individuals, those with baseline creatinine clearance of less than 90 mL/min, and those with kidney-related comorbidities. Less frequent or optional screening among younger individuals without kidney-related comorbidities may reduce barriers to PrEP implementation and use. FUNDING: Unitaid, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO.
Assuntos
Fármacos Anti-HIV , Infecções por HIV , Profilaxia Pré-Exposição , Fármacos Anti-HIV/efeitos adversos , Emtricitabina/uso terapêutico , Infecções por HIV/tratamento farmacológico , Infecções por HIV/prevenção & controle , Humanos , Rim , Tenofovir/efeitos adversosRESUMO
The government of Tanzania has adopted voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) as an important component of its national HIV prevention strategy and is scaling up VMMC in eight regions nationwide, with the goal of reaching 2.8 million uncircumcised men by 2015. In a 2010 campaign lasting six weeks, five health facilities in Tanzania's Iringa Region performed 10,352 VMMCs, which exceeded the campaign's target by 72%, with an adverse event (AE) rate of 1%. HIV testing was almost universal during the campaign. Through the adoption of approaches designed to improve clinical efficiency-including the use of the forceps-guided surgical method, the use of multiple beds in an assembly line by surgical teams, and task shifting and task sharing-the campaign matched the supply of VMMC services with demand. Community mobilization and bringing client preparation tasks (such as counseling, testing, and client scheduling) out of the facility and into the community helped to generate demand. This case study suggests that a campaign approach can be used to provide high-volume quality VMMC services without compromising client safety, and provides a model for matching supply and demand for VMMC services in other settings.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina/estatística & dados numéricos , Atenção à Saúde , Infecções por HIV/prevenção & controle , Circuncisão Masculina/métodos , Atenção à Saúde/organização & administração , Aconselhamento Diretivo , Infecções por HIV/diagnóstico , Infecções por HIV/epidemiologia , Instalações de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Instalações de Saúde/provisão & distribuição , Pessoal de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Humanos , Masculino , Programas Nacionais de Saúde/organização & administração , Equipe de Assistência ao Paciente/estatística & dados numéricos , Tanzânia/epidemiologia , Recursos HumanosRESUMO
Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) reduces female-to-male HIV transmission by approximately 60%; modeling suggests that scaling up VMMC to 80% of men 15- to 49-years-old within five years would avert over 3.3 million new HIV infections in 14 high priority countries/regions in southern and eastern Africa by 2025 and would require 20.33 million circumcisions. However, the shortage of health professionals in these countries must be addressed to reach these proposed coverage levels. To identify human resource approaches that are being used to improve VMMC volume and efficiency, we looked at previous literature and conducted a program review. We identified surgical efficiencies, non-surgical efficiencies, task shifting, task sharing, temporary redeployment of public sector staff during VMMC campaign periods, expansion of the health workforce through recruitment of unemployed, recently retired, newly graduating, or on-leave health care workers, and the use of volunteer medical staff from other countries as approaches that address human resource constraints. Case studies from Kenya, Tanzania, and Swaziland illustrate several innovative responses to human resource challenges. Although the shortage of skilled personnel remains a major challenge to the rapid scale-up of VMMC in the 14 African priority countries/regions, health programs throughout the region may be able to replicate or adapt these approaches to scale up VMMC for public health impact.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina/economia , Atenção à Saúde , Pessoal de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Saúde Pública , Adolescente , Adulto , África Oriental/epidemiologia , África Austral/epidemiologia , Circuncisão Masculina/métodos , Atenção à Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Infecções por HIV/epidemiologia , Infecções por HIV/prevenção & controle , Infecções por HIV/transmissão , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Programas Nacionais de Saúde , Equipe de Assistência ao Paciente/organização & administração , Recursos Humanos , Adulto JovemRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: The advent of COVID-19 has put pressure on health systems as they implement measures to reduce the risk of transmission to people living with HIV (PLHIV) and healthcare workers. For two out-of-facility individual differentiated service delivery (DSD) models, we assessed acceptability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) distribution through private pharmacies and reach of home delivery of ART through courier services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Botswana. METHODS: From 24 July to 24 August 2020, we conducted exit interviews with PLHIV receiving ART from 10 high-volume public facilities in Gaborone, and mapped and conducted an online survey with private pharmacies to assess willingness and capacity to dispense ART to PLHIV enrolled in the Botswana national ART program. We piloted ART home delivery from September 2020 to January 2021 in Gaborone and Kweneng East districts for PLHIV accessing ART at two Tebelopele Wellness Clinics. We used cascade analysis to measure the enrolment and eventual reach (percentage of those reached amongst those who are eligible) of ART home delivery. RESULTS: Sixty-one PLHIV and 42 private pharmacies participated. Of the PLHIV interviewed, 37 (61%) indicated willingness to access ART from private pharmacies and pay BWP50 (â¼US$4) per refill for a maximum of two refills per year. All private pharmacies surveyed were willing to provide ART, and 26 (62%) would charge a dispensing fee (range = BWP50-100; â¼US$4-8) per refill. All pharmacies operated 12 h/day, 6 days/week and on public holidays. In the home delivery pilot, 650 PLHIV were due for refills, 69.5% (n = 452) of whom were eligible for home delivery. Of these, 361 were successfully offered home delivery and 303 enrolled (enrolment = 83.9%: female = 87.2%, male = 77.8%, p = 0.013). A total of 276 deliveries were made, a reach of 61%. CONCLUSIONS: Providing ART through private pharmacies and home delivery was acceptable in Botswana during COVID-19. Surveyed pharmacies were willing and able to dispense ART to PLHIV attending public sector facilities for free or for a nominal fee. Additionally, using courier services for ART home delivery is a novel and viable model in countries with a reliable courier service like Botswana and should be scaled up, particularly in urban areas.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Infecções por HIV , Farmácias , Botsuana , Feminino , Infecções por HIV/tratamento farmacológico , Infecções por HIV/epidemiologia , Humanos , Masculino , Pandemias , SARS-CoV-2RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Faced with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, governments worldwide instituted lockdowns to curtail virus spread. Health facility closures and travel restrictions disrupted access to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy for people living with HIV. This report describes how HIV programs in Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, and Nigeria supported treatment continuation by introducing home delivery of ARVs. METHODS: Staff supporting the programs provided accounts of when and how decisions were taken to support ARV home delivery. They captured programmatic information about home delivery implementation using an intervention documentation tool. The 4 country experiences revealed lessons learned about factors favoring successful expansion of ARV home delivery. RESULTS: Three of the countries relied on existing networks of community health workers for ARV delivery; the fourth country, Indonesia, relied on a private sector courier service. Across the 4 countries, between 19% and 51% of eligible clients were served by home delivery. The experiences showed that ARV home delivery is feasible and acceptable to health service providers, clients, and other stakeholders. Essential to success was rapid mobilization of stakeholders who led the design of the home delivery mechanisms and provided leadership support of the service innovations. Timely service adaptation was made possible by pre-existing differentiated models of care supportive of community-based ARV provision by outreach workers. Home delivery models prioritized protection of client confidentiality and prevention measures for COVID-19. Sustainability of the innovation depends on reinforcement of the commodity management infrastructure and investment in financing mechanisms. CONCLUSION: Home delivery of ARVs is a feasible client-centered approach to be included among the options for decentralized drug distribution. It serves as a measure for expanding access to care both when access to health services is disrupted and under routine circumstances.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Infecções por HIV , Preparações Farmacêuticas , Controle de Doenças Transmissíveis , Infecções por HIV/tratamento farmacológico , Humanos , Indonésia , Laos , Nepal , Nigéria , SARS-CoV-2RESUMO
Finding new HIV-positive cases remains a priority to achieve the UNAIDS goals. An enhanced peer outreach approach (EPOA) was implemented to expand the delivery of HIV services to female sex workers (FSWs) and men who have sex with men (MSM) in three countries in West and Central Africa. The aim of EPOA is to identify new HIV-positive cases. EPOA was implemented in Burundi among FSWs, and in Cote d'Ivoire and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) among both FSWs and MSM. Implementation ranged from five to nine weeks and was nested within a three-month reporting period. Standard outreach was suspended for the duration of EPOA implementation but was resumed thereafter. Summary service statistics were used to compare HIV seropositivity during standard outreach and EPOA. Trends were analyzed during the quarter in which EPOA was implemented, and these were compared with the two preceding quarters. Differences in proportions of HIV seropositivity were tested using Pearson's chi-square test; p-values of less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Overall, EPOA resulted in a higher proportion of new HIV-positive cases being found, both within and between quarters. In Burundi, HIV seropositivity among FSWs was significantly higher during EPOA than during standard outreach (10.8% vs. 4.1%, p<0.001). In Cote d'Ivoire, HIV seropositivity was significantly higher during EPOA among both populations (FSWs: 5.6% vs. 1.81%, p<0.01; MSM: 15.4% vs. 5.9%; p<0.01). In DRC, HIV seropositivity was significantly higher during EPOA among MSM (6.9% vs. 1.6%; p<0.001), but not among FSWs (5.2% vs. 4.3%; p = 0.08). Trends in HIV seropositivity during routine outreach for both populations were constant during three successive quarters but increased with the introduction of EPOA. EPOA is a public health approach with great potential for reaching new populations and ensuring that they are aware of their HIV status.
Assuntos
Relações Comunidade-Instituição , Soropositividade para HIV/diagnóstico , Grupo Associado , Profissionais do Sexo/estatística & dados numéricos , Minorias Sexuais e de Gênero/estatística & dados numéricos , Burundi/epidemiologia , Participação da Comunidade , Côte d'Ivoire/epidemiologia , República Democrática do Congo/epidemiologia , Feminino , Soropositividade para HIV/epidemiologia , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Complex health interventions must incorporate user preferences to maximize their potential effectiveness. Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) quantify the strength of user preferences and identify preference heterogeneity across users. We present the process of using a DCE to supplement conventional qualitative formative research in the design of a demand creation intervention for voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) to prevent HIV in Tanzania. METHODS: The VMMC intervention was designed within a 3-month formative phase. In-depth interviews (n = 30) and participatory group discussions (n = 20) sought to identify broad setting-specific barriers to and facilitators of VMMC among adult men. Qualitative results informed the DCE development, identifying the role of female partners, service providers' attitudes and social stigma. A DCE among 325 men in Njombe and Tabora, Tanzania, subsequently measured preferences for modifiable VMMC service characteristics. The final VMMC demand creation intervention design drew jointly on the qualitative and DCE findings. RESULTS: While the qualitative research informed the community mobilization intervention, the DCE guided the specific VMMC service configuration. The significant positive utilities (u) for availability of partner counselling (u = 0.43, p < 0.01) and age-separated waiting areas (u = 0.21, p < 0.05) led to the provision of community information booths for partners and provision of age-separated waiting areas. The strong disutility of female healthcare providers (u = - 0.24, p < 0.01) led to re-training all providers on client-friendliness. CONCLUSION: This is, to our knowledge, the first study documenting how user preferences from DCEs can directly inform the design of a complex intervention. The use of DCEs as formative research may help increase user uptake and adherence to complex interventions.
Assuntos
Comportamento de Escolha , Circuncisão Masculina/métodos , Ensaios Clínicos como Assunto/métodos , Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde , Projetos de Pesquisa , Sujeitos da Pesquisa/psicologia , Adulto , Atitude do Pessoal de Saúde , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Aceitação pelo Paciente de Cuidados de Saúde , Pesquisa Qualitativa , Estigma Social , Cônjuges/psicologia , Tanzânia , Volição , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) is effective in reducing the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, countries like Tanzania have high HIV prevalence but low uptake of VMMC. We conducted a discrete-choice experiment to evaluate the preferences for VMMC service attributes in a random sample of 325 men aged 18 years or older from the general population in 2 Tanzanian districts, Njombe and Tabora. We examined the preference for financial incentives in the form of a lottery ticket or receiving a guaranteed transport voucher for attendance at a VMMC service. We created a random-parameters logit model to account for individual preference heterogeneity and a latent class analysis model for identifying groups of men with similar preferences to test the hypothesis that men who reported sexually risky behaviors (i.e., multiple partners and any condomless sex in the past 12 months) may have a preference for participation in a lottery-based incentive. Most men preferred a transport voucher (84%) over a lottery ticket. We also found that offering a lottery-based financial incentive may not differentially attract those with greater sexual risk. Our study highlights the importance of gathering local data to understand preference heterogeneity, particularly regarding assumptions around risk behaviors.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina/psicologia , Programas Voluntários , Adolescente , Adulto , Circuncisão Masculina/métodos , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Desenvolvimento de Programas/métodos , Assunção de Riscos , TanzâniaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Although voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) reduces the risk of HIV acquisition, demand for services is lower among men in most at-risk age groups (ages 20-34 years). A randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the effectiveness of locally-tailored demand creation activities (including mass media, community mobilization, and targeted service delivery) in increasing uptake of campaign-delivered VMMC among men aged 20-34 years. We conducted an economic evaluation to understand the intervention's cost and cost-effectiveness. SETTING: Tanzania (Njombe and Tabora regions). METHODS: Cost data were collected on surgery, demand creation activities, and monitoring and supervision related to VMMC implementation across clusters in both trial arms, as well as start-up activities for the intervention arms. The Decision Makers' Program Planning Tool was used to estimate the number of HIV infections averted and related cost savings, given the total VMMCs per cluster. Disability-adjusted life years were calculated and used to estimate incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. RESULTS: Client load was higher in the intervention arms than in the control arms: 4394 vs. 2901 in Tabora and 1797 vs. 1025 in Njombe, respectively. Despite additional costs of tailored demand creation, demand increased more than proportionally: mean costs per VMMC in the intervention arms were $62 in Tabora and $130 in Njombe, and in the control arms $70 and $191, respectively. More infections were averted in the intervention arm than in the control arm in Tabora (123 vs. 67, respectively) and in Njombe (164 vs. 102, respectively). The intervention dominated the control because it was both less costly and more effective. Cost savings were observed in both regions stemming from the antiretroviral treatment costs averted as a result of the VMMCs performed. CONCLUSIONS: Spending more to address local preferences as a way to increase uptake of VMMC can be cost-saving.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina , Análise Custo-Benefício , Adulto , Circuncisão Masculina/economia , Humanos , Masculino , Tanzânia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: We evaluated a demand-creation intervention to increase voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) uptake among men aged 20-34 years in Tanzania, to maximise short-term impact on HIV incidence. METHODS: A cluster randomized controlled trial stratified by region was conducted in 20 outreach sites in Njombe and Tabora regions. The sites were randomized 1â:â1 to receive either a demand-creation intervention package in addition to standard VMMC outreach, or standard VMMC outreach alone. The intervention package included enhanced public address messages, peer promotion by recently circumcised men, facility setup to increase privacy, and engagement of female partners in demand creation. The primary outcome was the proportion of VMMC clients aged 20-34 years. FINDINGS: Overall, 6251 and 3968 VMMC clients were enrolled in intervention and control clusters, respectively. The proportion of clients aged 20-34 years was slightly greater in the intervention than control arm [17.7 vs. 13.0%; prevalence ratioâ=â1.36; 95% confidence intervals (CI):0.9-2.0]. In Njombe region, the proportion of clients aged 20-34 years was similar between arms but a significant two-fold difference was seen in Tabora region (P value for effect modificationâ=â0.006). The mean number of men aged 20-34 years (mean difference per clusterâ=â97; 95% CI:40-154), and of all ages (mean difference per clusterâ=â227, 95% CI:33-420) were greater in the intervention than control arm. CONCLUSION: The intervention was associated with a significant increase in the proportion of clients aged 20-34 years in Tabora but not in Njombe. The intervention may be sensitive to regional factors in VMMC programme scale-up, including saturation.
Assuntos
Atitude Frente a Saúde , Terapia Comportamental/métodos , Circuncisão Masculina/estatística & dados numéricos , Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis/prevenção & controle , Adulto , Humanos , Masculino , Tanzânia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Iringa region of Tanzania has had great success reaching targets for voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC). Looking to sustain high coverage of male circumcision, the government introduced a pilot project to offer early infant male circumcision (EIMC) in Iringa in 2013. From April 2013 to December 2014, a total of 2,084 male infants were circumcised in 8 health facilities in the region, representing 16.4% of all male infants born in those facilities. Most circumcisions took place 7 days or more after birth. The procedure proved safe, with only 3 mild and 3 moderate adverse events (0.4% overall adverse event rate). Overall, 93% of infants were brought back for a second-day visit and 71% for a seventh-day visit. These percentages varied significantly by urban and rural residence (97.4% urban versus 84.6% rural for day 2 visit; 82.2% urban versus 49.9% rural for day 7 visit). Mothers were more likely than fathers to have received information about EIMC. However, fathers tended to be key decision makers regarding circumcision of their sons. This suggests the importance of addressing fathers with behavioral change communication about EIMC. Successes in scaling up VMMC services in Iringa did not translate into immediate acceptability of EIMC. EIMC programs will require targeted investments in demand creation to expand and thrive in traditionally non-circumcising settings such as Iringa.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina/psicologia , Circuncisão Masculina/estatística & dados numéricos , Demografia , Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde , Disseminação de Informação , Adulto , Estudos Transversais , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Recém-Nascido , Masculino , Projetos Piloto , TanzâniaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) among adult men has fallen short of targets in Tanzania. We evaluated a smartphone raffle intervention designed to increase VMMC uptake in three regions. METHODS: Among 7 matched pairs of health facilities, 1 in each pair was randomly assigned to the intervention, consisting of a weekly smartphone raffle for clients returning for follow-up and monthly raffle for peer promoters and providers. VMMC records of clients aged 20 and older were analyzed over three months, with the number performed compared with the same months in the previous year. In multivariable models, the intervention's effect on number of VMMCs was adjusted for client factors and clustering. Focus groups with clients and peer promoters explored preferences for VMMC incentives. RESULTS: VMMCs increased 47% and 8% in the intervention and control groups, respectively; however, the changes were not significantly different from one another. In the Iringa region subanalysis, VMMCs in the intervention group increased 336% (exponentiated coefficient of 3.36, 95% CI: 1.14 to 9.90; P = 0.028), after controlling for facility pair, percentage of clients ≥ age 30, and percentage testing HIV positive; the control group had a more modest 63% significant increase (exponentiated coefficient 1.63, 95% CI: 1.18 to 2.26; P = 0.003). The changes were not significantly different. Focus group respondents expressed mixed opinions about smartphone raffles; some favored smaller cash incentive or transportation reimbursement. IMPLICATIONS: A smartphone raffle might increase VMMC uptake in some settings by helping late adopters move from intention to action; however, there is no recommendation for this intervention more generally.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina/estatística & dados numéricos , Necessidades e Demandas de Serviços de Saúde , Smartphone , Adolescente , Adulto , Grupos Focais , Humanos , Masculino , Tanzânia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Since its launch in 2010, the Tanzania National Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) Program has focused efforts on males ages 10-34 in 11 priority regions. Implementers have noted that over 70% of VMMC clients are between the ages of 10 and 19, raising questions about whether additional efforts would be required to recruit men age 20 and above. This analysis uses mathematical modeling to examine the economic and epidemiological consequences of scaling up VMMC among specific age groups and priority regions in Tanzania. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Analyses were conducted using the Decision Makers' Program Planning Tool Version 2.0 (DMPPT 2.0), a compartmental model implemented in Microsoft Excel 2010. The model was populated with population, mortality, and HIV incidence and prevalence projections from external sources, including outputs from Spectrum/AIDS Impact Module (AIM). A separate DMPPT 2.0 model was created for each of the 11 priority regions. Tanzania can achieve the most immediate impact on HIV incidence by circumcising males ages 20-34. This strategy would also require the fewest VMMCs for each HIV infection averted. Circumcising men ages 10-24 will have the greatest impact on HIV incidence over a 15-year period. The most cost-effective approach (lowest cost per HIV infection averted) targets men ages 15-34. The model shows the VMMC program is cost saving in all 11 priority regions. VMMC program cost-effectiveness varies across regions due to differences in projected HIV incidence, with the most cost-effective programs in Njombe and Iringa. CONCLUSIONS: The DMPPT 2.0 results reinforce Tanzania's current VMMC strategy, providing newfound confidence in investing in circumcising adolescents. Tanzanian policy makers and program implementers will continue to focus scale-up of VMMC on men ages 10-34 years, seeking to maximize program impact and cost-effectiveness while acknowledging trends in demand among the younger and older age groups.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina/economia , Infecções por HIV/prevenção & controle , Programas Nacionais de Saúde/economia , Programas Voluntários/economia , Adolescente , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Criança , Circuncisão Masculina/estatística & dados numéricos , Análise Custo-Benefício , Infecções por HIV/epidemiologia , Humanos , Incidência , Masculino , Modelos Estatísticos , Prevalência , Tanzânia/epidemiologia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Based on the established protective effect of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) in reducing female-to-male HIV transmission, Tanzania's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) embarked on the scale-up of VMMC services in 2009. The Maternal and Child Health Integrated Project (MCHIP) supported the MOHSW to roll out VMMC services in Iringa and Njombe, 2 regions of Tanzania with among the highest HIV and lowest circumcision prevalence. With ambitious targets of reaching 264,990 males aged 10-34 years with VMMC in 5 years, efficient and innovative program approaches were necessary. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Outreach campaigns, in which mobile teams set up temporary services in facilities or non-facility settings, are used to reach lesser-served areas with VMMC. In 2012, MCHIP began using geographic information systems (GIS) to strategically plan the location of outreach campaigns. MCHIP gathered geocoded data on variables such as roads, road conditions, catchment population, staffing, and infrastructure for every health facility in Iringa and Njombe. These data were uploaded to a central database and overlaid with various demographic and service delivery data in order to identify the VMMC needs of the 2 regions. FINDINGS: MCHIP used the interactive digital maps as decision-making tools to extend mobile VMMC outreach to "the last kilometer." As of September 2014, the MOHSW with MCHIP support provided VMMC to 267,917 men, 259,144 of whom were men were aged 10-34 years, an achievement of 98% of the target of eligible males in Iringa and Njombe. The project reached substantially more men through rural dispensaries and non-health care facilities each successive year after GIS was introduced in 2012, jumping from 48% of VMMCs performed in rural areas in fiscal year 2011 to 88% in fiscal year 2012 and to 93% by the end of the project in 2014. CONCLUSION: GIS was an effective tool for making strategic decisions about where to prioritize VMMC service delivery, particularly for mobile and outreach services. Donors may want to consider funding mapping initiatives that support numerous interventions across implementing partners to spread initial start-up costs.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina/estatística & dados numéricos , Atenção à Saúde/métodos , Sistemas de Informação Geográfica , Infecções por HIV/prevenção & controle , Promoção da Saúde/métodos , Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Adolescente , Adulto , Criança , Humanos , Masculino , População Rural/estatística & dados numéricos , Tanzânia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) for HIV prevention in Tanzania was introduced by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in 2010 as part of the national HIV prevention strategy. A qualitative study was conducted prior to a cluster randomized trial which tested effective strategies to increase VMMC up take among men aged ≥20 years. During the formative qualitative study, we conducted in-depth interviews with circumcised males (n = 14), uncircumcised males (n = 16), and participatory group discussions (n = 20) with men and women aged 20-49 years in Njombe and Tabora regions of Tanzania. Participants reported that mothers and female partners have an important influence on men's decisions to seek VMMC both directly by denying sex, and indirectly through discussion, advice and providing information on VMMC to uncircumcised partners and sons. Our findings suggest that in Tanzania and potentially other settings, an expanded role for women in VMMC communication strategies could increase adult male uptake of VMMC services.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina , Mulheres , Adulto , Feminino , Instalações de Saúde , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Tanzânia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Given the proven effectiveness of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) in preventing the spread of HIV, Tanzania is scaling up VMMC as an HIV prevention strategy. This study will inform policymakers about the potential costs and benefits of scaling up VMMC services in Tanzania. METHODOLOGY: The analysis first assessed the unit costs of delivering VMMC at the facility level in three regions-Iringa, Kagera, and Mbeya-via three currently used VMMC service delivery models (routine, campaign, and mobile/island outreach). Subsequently, using these unit cost data estimates, the study used the Decision Makers' Program Planning Tool (DMPPT) to estimate the costs and impact of a scaled-up VMMC program. RESULTS: Increasing VMMC could substantially reduce HIV infection. Scaling up adult VMMC to reach 87.9% coverage by 2015 would avert nearly 23,000 new adult HIV infections through 2015 and an additional 167,500 from 2016 through 2025-at an additional cost of US$253.7 million through 2015 and US$302.3 million from 2016 through 2025. Average cost per HIV infection averted would be US$11,300 during 2010-2015 and US$3,200 during 2010-2025. Scaling up VMMC in Tanzania will yield significant net benefits (benefits of treatment costs averted minus the cost of performing circumcisions) in the long run-around US$4,200 in net benefits for each infection averted. CONCLUSION: VMMC could have an immediate impact on HIV transmission, but the full impact on prevalence and deaths will only be apparent in the longer term because VMMC averts infections some years into the future among people who have been circumcised. Given the health and economic benefits of investing in VMMC, the scale-up of services should continue to be a central component of the national HIV prevention strategy in Tanzania.
Assuntos
Circuncisão Masculina/economia , Análise Custo-Benefício , Infecções por HIV/economia , Infecções por HIV/epidemiologia , Infecções por HIV/prevenção & controle , Humanos , Masculino , Serviços Preventivos de Saúde/economia , TanzâniaRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: This analysis explores the association between elements of surgical efficiency in voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), quality of surgical technique, and the amount of time required to conduct VMMC procedures in actual field settings. Efficiency outcomes are defined in terms of the primary provider's time with the client (PPTC) and total elapsed operating time (TEOT). METHODS: Two serial cross-sectional surveys of VMMC sites were conducted in Kenya, Republic of South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe in 2011 and 2012. Trained clinicians observed quality of surgical technique and timed 9 steps in the VMMC procedure. Four elements of efficiency (task-shifting, task-sharing [of suturing], rotation among multiple surgical beds, and use of electrocautery) and quality of surgical technique were assessed as explanatory variables. Mann Whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests were used in the bivariate analysis and linear regression models for the multivariate analyses to test the relationship between these five explanatory variables and two outcomes: PPTC and TEOT. The VMMC procedure TEOT and PPTC averaged 23-25 minutes and 6-15 minutes, respectively, across the four countries and two years. The data showed time savings from task-sharing in suturing and use of electrocautery in South Africa and Zimbabwe (where task-shifting is not authorized). After adjusting for confounders, results demonstrated that having a secondary provider complete suturing and use of electrocautery reduced PPTC. Factors related to TEOT varied by country and year, but task-sharing of suturing and/or electrocautery were significant in two countries. Quality of surgical technique was not significantly related to PPTC or TEOT, except for South Africa in 2012 where higher quality was associated with lower TEOT. CONCLUSIONS: SYMMACS data confirm the efficiency benefits of task-sharing of suturing and use of electrocautery for decreasing TEOT. Reduced TEOT and PPTC in high volume setting did not result in decreased quality of surgical care.