1 Bruce Larson 2 , Kate Bistline 1 , Buyiswa Ndibong 1 , Thembi Xulu³, Alana Brennan¹², Lawrence Long¹, Matt Fox², Sydney Rosen 2 1 Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Johannesburg, South Africa 2 Boston University Center for International Health and Development , Boston, USA 3 Right to Care, Johannesburg, South Africa Rapid point-of-care CD4 testing at mobile HIV testing sites to increase linkage to care: An evaluation of a pilot program in South Africa
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1 Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Johannesburg, South Africa
Rapid point-of-care CD4 testing at mobile HIV testing sites to increase linkage to care: An evaluation of a pilot program in South Africa. Bruce Larson 2 , Kate Bistline 1 , Buyiswa Ndibong 1 , Thembi Xulu³, Alana Brennan¹², Lawrence Long¹, Matt Fox², Sydney Rosen 2. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Bruce Larson2, Kate Bistline1, Buyiswa Ndibong1, Thembi Xulu³, Alana Brennan¹², Lawrence Long¹,
Matt Fox², Sydney Rosen2
1Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Johannesburg, South Africa2Boston University Center for International Health and Development , Boston, USA
3Right to Care, Johannesburg, South Africa
Rapid point-of-care CD4 testing at mobile HIV testing sites to increase linkage to care:
An evaluation of a pilot program in South Africa
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Introduction• Early identification of HIV-infected
individuals and improved linkage to care is a prerequisite for South Africa to achieve its goals for care and treatment.
• While mobile HIV counseling and testing (HCT) is well suited for early identification, little information exists on post-HCT linkage to care.
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The Pilot Intervention • A mobile HCT program around
Johannesburg (ACCESS VCT) piloted integration of point-of-care (POC) CD4 testing into routine practice to improve linkage to HIV care and treatment.
• The POC CD4 technology was the Pima™ Analyzer, provided to the site by Alere through a collaboration with USAID and the PEPFAR Program.
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Study Objective
• Primary objective:– Does integration of POC CD4 testing into
routine HCT services in a mobile program improve linkage to HIV care?
• Primary outcome: – The proportion of patients testing HIV
positive in the mobile HCT program who complete the first visit to their referral site within 8 weeks of testing positive.
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Methods• Access VCT provides HCT in mobile settings around Johannesburg
(nurses provide HCT services).
• During May – October 2010, multiple nurses offered HCT services at each mobile site (a day of operation across multiple locations).
• Each day, a subset of nurses also offered the POC CD4 test to positive patients.
• For each patient offered the POC CD4 test, the same nurse provided HIV testing and CD4 testing.
• Using patient-provided phone numbers, the HCT program made three efforts to reach all positive patients after 8 weeks to ask if they completed their referral visit to an HIV clinic, the first step in the initiation of HIV care.