AIDSFree Project Publishes New Journal Article in AIDS Care
February 26th, 2018 | news
In response to global trends of maximizing the number of patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), JSI staff Nicole Davis, Natasha Kanagat, Melissa Sharer, Sabrina Eagan, and Jennifer Pearson from the JSI-led AIDSfree team have published a new literature review of differentiated models of ART distribution at facility and community levels in the AIDS Care journal.
The review summarizes literature to highlight promising strategies and identify evidence gaps. Databases and gray literature were searched, yielding 13 final articles on differentiated ART distribution models supporting stable adult patients. Of these, seven articles focused on distribution at the facility level and six at the community level. Findings suggest that differentiated models of ART distribution contribute to higher retention, lower attrition, and less loss to follow-up. These models also reduced patient wait time, travel costs, and time lost from work for drug pick-up. Facility- and community-level ART distribution models have the potential to extend treatment availability, enable improved access and adherence among people living with HIV (PLHIV), and facilitate retention in treatment and care.
Gaps remain in understanding the desirability of these models for PLHIV, the negative and positive impacts of stigma, and identifying models to reach traditionally marginalized groups such as key populations and youth. Replicating differentiated care so efforts can reach more PLHIV will be critical to scaling these approaches across varying contexts.
