ART Bottlenecks Study

Supported by:

ART Bottlenecks Study

This study seeks to understand how health and HIV programmes influence the health care-seeking experiences of people living with HIV in Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. The study has three specific research objectives:

To describe and understand how PLHIV interact with the health system in Manicaland
To investigate how health programmes and services shape patterns of health care utilisation among PLHIV in Manicaland, including influence on (i) taking an HIV test; (ii) using post-test care; (iii) initiating treatment; (iv) and staying in HIV care programmes.
To explore how broader contextual influences, including partner, family, community, cultural and socio-economic factors, mediate the influence of health policies and programmes on HIV service utilisation.

To achieve this, findings will be compared and contrasted with findings of concurrent studies in Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. This research will complement ALPHA’s ongoing work on HIV-related mortality estimates through the cascade within the HDSS and advance current knowledge on the ways in which different programmatic approaches influence patterns of service use and contribute to long-term adherence.

Contact person: Constance Nyamukapa and Morten Skovdal

Publications

Church K, Kiweewa F, Dasgupta A, Mwangome M, Mpandaguta E, Gómez-Olivé FX, Oti S, Todd J, Wringe A, Geubbels E, Crampin A, Nakiyingi-Miiro J, Hayashi C, Njage M, Wagner RG, Ario A, Makombe SD, Mugurungi O, Zaba B. A comparative analysis of national HIV policies in six African countries with generalised epidemics: Influences on access to testing, access to treatment and retention in care. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation. 2015; 93:457–467.