Foundation wants ART distribution in communities
Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Malawi has recommended community anti-retroviral therapy (ART) distribution as key to promoting retention among clients.
Speaking in Lilongwe on Wednesday during the Raise Symposium 2023 which is showcasing various research findings by various sections of the foundation, executive director Phoebe Nyasulu highlighted results from research on community ART distribution.
She said: “The main issue is to do with the efficacy of the drug that we provide to our clients, we are looking at the impact of the services that we are providing, for example, the provision of medication in communities, is that working? Is it something that we should scale up?
“We are going to reflect on it as it has shown that it’s working. However, we are still looking at the model to make sure it is sustainable as there was feedback on the issue of cost.”
The foundation conducted research on the impact of community ART distribution services on retention among people living with HIV, whose results revealed that due to long distances to health facilities, some patients default on treatment.
On the other hand, the research also found that taking the medication closer to home promoted adherence.
In an earlier interview, Malawi Network of Aids Service Organisations (Manaso) board chairperson Maziko Matemba called on partners to increase resources toward HIV prevention services.
“HIV new infection rate is still high, putting more resources to HIV prevention and providing HIV services and treating everyone equally and fairly is one way that can assist to end the pandemic,” he said.
Malawi targets to eliminate new HIV infections by 2030.
The theme for the symposium was ‘Achieving global health equity: Focusing on evidence-based innovations, programming and research’.
