Received: NovemAccepted: ApPublished: August 4, 2022Ĭopyright: © 2022 Kway et al. PLOS Glob Public Health 2(8):Įditor: Lei Gao, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, CHINA (2022) HIV testing and linkage to care-A case of a mobile diagnostic and counseling service in Mbeya, Tanzania A quantitative study. The mHTC has shown that it is feasible to improve the reach of KVP clients however, further research is required to examine the quality of this service at the community level.Ĭitation: Kway A, Sabi I, Olomi W, Mcharo RD, Sanga E, William W, et al. Raising the need to address the challenges associated with linkage and specific care for KVPs as a subset of the general population. The mHTC was able to reach KVP clients overall linkage for both sexes was 52.30% below the recommended UNAIDS 90-90-90 target. In the multivariable log binomial regression model age of the clients was associated with successful linkage to care. Among the positive clients, 5/6 (83.33%) children below 15 years old, 238/450 (52.89%) females and 39/64 (60.94%) widows were successfully linked to care. Out of the 800 HIV-positive clients, 418 (52.30%) were successfully linked to care. An association between HIV status and sex, age group, relationship status and level of education was observed (P<0001). Positivity was high among females 450 (4%), age group 25–45 years 538 (4.12%), divorced 202 (7.41%) and clients with primary level of education 504 (3.21%). Out of the clients tested, 800 (3.17%) were diagnosed HIV-positive. The median age of clients was 31 (IQR: 23–42) years.
Of 25,248 clients, 51.71% were in 25–45 years age group, 55.4% were males, 60.5% were married and 62.1% had primary level of education. A retrospective review of the records of 25,248 clients was extracted from the mHTC database from October-2016 to September-2018. This study assessed the performance of mobile HIV Testing and Counseling service (mHTC) in provision of HIV-testing and linkage to care of newly diagnosed PLHIV from Key and Vulnerable Populations (KVPs).
HIV-care programmes are faced with significant challenges in getting newly diagnosed People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (PLHIV) linked to care despite massive investment in HIV prevention, treatment and care.