Implementing quality management strategies improves clinical quality as a voluntary medical male circumcision program in Namibia matures: a process analysis.

BACKGROUND: Surgical voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) is a safe procedure; however, maintaining quality standards at scale, particularly during scale-up, is a challenge making ongoing quality management (QM) efforts essential. This study describes program quality measured by rates of adverse events (AEs) over four years of VMMC implementation in Namibia, compares AE rates over time, and discusses QM processes that contextualize AE trends and illustrate improvements in quality as the program matured. The International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) assisted the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) in expanding VMMC in three regions among boys and men over 10 years of age between January 2015 and September 2019. METHODS: A comprehensive package of QM strategies was implemented by multi-disciplinary onsite teams with support from national and international technical advisors. Retrospective routine MoHSS data from the VMMC register, client forms, and monthly AE reports were collected during implementation in the three regions to assess the impact of QM interventions on AEs and to calculate the proportion of clients who experienced AEs over time. The proportion of clients who experienced an AE over time was compared using a Cochran-Armitage test for trend. RESULTS: Between January 2015 and September 2019, 40,336 clients underwent VMMC and 593 (1.5%) clients experienced a post-operative AE in the three supported regions. The AE rate was highest in the first quarter of clinical service delivery in each region (January-March 2015 in Oshana and Zambezi, October-December 2017 in //Kharas) but declined over the implementation period as the program matured. This observed trend between program maturity and declining AE rates over time was significant (p < 0.001) when compared using a Cochran-Armitage test for trend. CONCLUSIONS: As the I-TECH-supported VMMC program matured, QM measures were introduced and routinized, and clinical quality improved over time with the rate of AEs decreasing significantly over the implementation period. Applying systematic and continuous QM processes and approaches across the continuum of VMMC services and considering local context can contribute to increased clinical safety. QM measures that are established in more mature program sites can be quickly adopted to respond to quality issues in program expansion sites.

Adverse event profile and associated factors following surgical voluntary medical male circumcision in two regions of Namibia, 2015-2018.

INTRODUCTION: Monitoring clinical safety of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) is critical to minimize risk as VMMC programs for HIV prevention are scaled. This cross-sectional analysis describes the adverse event (AE) profile of a large-scale, routine VMMC program and identifies factors associated with the development, severity, and timing of AEs to provide recommendations for program quality improvement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2015-2018 there were 28,990 circumcisions performed in International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) supported regions of Namibia in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Services. Two routine follow-up visits after VMMC were scheduled to identify clients with AEs. Summary statistics were used to describe characteristics of all VMMC clients and the subset who experienced an AE. We used chi-square tests to evaluate associations between AE timing, patient age, and other patient and AE characteristics. We used a logistic regression model to explore associations between patient characteristics and AE severity. RESULTS: Of the 498 clients with AEs (AE rate of 1.7%), 40 (8%) occurred ≤2 days, 262 (53%) occurred 3-7 days, 161 (32%) between day 8 and 14, and 35 (7%) were ≥15 days post-VMMC. Early AEs (on or before day 2) tended to be severe and categorized as bleeding, while infections were the most common AEs occurring later (p<0.001). Younger clients (aged 10-14 years) experienced more infections, whereas older clients experienced more bleeding (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Almost 40% of AEs occurred after the second follow-up visit, of which 179 (91%) were infections. Improvements in pre-surgical and post-surgical counselling and post-operative educational materials encouraging clients to seek care at any time, adoption of alternative follow-up methods, and the addition of a third follow-up visit may improve outcomes for patients. Enhancing post-surgical counselling and emphasizing wound care for younger VMMC clients and their caregivers could help mitigate elevated risk of infection.

Low Case Finding Among Men and Poor Viral Load Suppression Among Adolescents Are Impeding Namibia's Ability to Achieve UNAIDS 90-90-90 Targets.

BACKGROUND: In 2015, Namibia implemented an Acceleration Plan to address the high burden of HIV (13.0% adult prevalence and 216 311 people living with HIV [PLHIV]) and achieve the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets by 2020. We provide an update on Namibia's overall progress toward achieving these targets and estimate the percent reduction in HIV incidence since 2010. METHODS: Data sources include the 2013 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey (2013 NDHS), the national electronic patient monitoring system, and laboratory data from the Namibian Institute of Pathology. These sources were used to estimate (1) the percentage of PLHIV who know their HIV status, (2) the percentage of PLHIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART), (3) the percentage of patients on ART with suppressed viral loads, and (4) the percent reduction in HIV incidence. RESULTS: In the 2013 NDHS, knowledge of HIV status was higher among HIV-positive women 91.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 89.4%-93.7%) than HIV-positive men 82.5% (95% CI, 78.1%-86.1%). At the end of 2016, an estimated 88.3% (95% CI, 86.3%-90.1%) of PLHIV knew their status, and 165 939 (76.7%) PLHIV were active on ART. The viral load suppression rate among those on ART was 87%, and it was highest among ≥20-year-olds (90%) and lowest among 15-19-year-olds (68%). HIV incidence has declined by 21% since 2010. CONCLUSIONS: With 76.7% of PLHIV on ART and 87% of those on ART virally suppressed, Namibia is on track to achieve UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets by 2020. Innovative strategies are needed to improve HIV case identification among men and adherence to ART among youth.