The US Ambassador to Namibia, H.E. Thomas F. Daughton, launched CBART group ARV refills on June 1, 2017. These groups are implemented widely in Onandjokwe and other districts in northern Namibia, where the HIV burden is high. During the CBART group ARV refill initiative launch, the ambassador remarked “simple solutions = best solutions; bring the … Read more
Archive Adherence
Lucky Specials Brings Focus to TB Awareness Week in Namibia
Theresia Cloete was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) in 2002. She was put on treatment but after four months stopped taking her TB medication. Last year, she was diagnosed with drug-resistant TB. Like Cloete, many TB patients stop taking their life-saving medication before they are cured. She is now one of eight in-patients waiting for stabilization … Read more
The Antimicrobial Resistance Challenge: No Room for Complacency
A presentation by Mohan P. Joshi, Principal Technical Advisor and Lead for Pharmaceutical Services, SIAPS, at USAID in Arlington, VA on November 9 2017.
HIV/TB Pharmaceutical Management Training in Swaziland to Improve Medicine Availability and Rational Use
An off-site training was held for 104 pharmacy personnel (32 males, 72 females) responsible for managing HIV and TB medicines in 88 health facilities in the 4 regions around the country. SIAPS supported the training, which included pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and nurses. The trainings took place over August 7–17, 2017, and each region was trained … Read more
Pediatric Antiretroviral Treatment Uptake, Treatment Adherence, Regimen Switches, and Retention in Care in Namibia
In Namibia, a preliminary review of EDT records suggests that children form a small proportion of the patients accessing ART in any given setting, nationally composing 8% of the patients on ART in the MoHSS facilities. Over the years, managing children has been complicated with formulations that have not been friendly for children, complicated regimens, and … Read more
The Economic Cost of Non-Adherence to TB Medicines Resulting from Stock-Outs and Loss to Follow-Up in the Philippines
A key element of successful tuberculosis (TB) control programs is adherence to treatment. Non-adherence results in increased length and severity of illness, death, disease transmission, and drug resistance. The purpose of this study was to estimate the morbidity and mortality impact and economic costs of non-adherence to TB medicines resulting from treatment interruption due to … Read more
The Economic Cost of Non-adherence to TB Medicines Resulting from Stock-outs and Loss to Follow-up in Kenya – Research Summary
One of the key elements of successful tuberculosis (TB) control programs is adherence to treatment, which is a cornerstone of most international and national policies and guidelines. Non-adherence results in increased length and severity of illness, death, disease transmission, and drug resistance. Treatment interruption is often due to patient-related factors—classed as loss to follow-up (LTFU)—but … Read more
The Economic Cost of Non-adherence to TB Medicines Resulting from Stock-outs and Loss to Follow-up in Kenya
One of the key elements of successful tuberculosis (TB) control programs is adherence to treatment, which is a cornerstone of most international and national policies and guidelines. Non-adherence results in increased length and severity of illness, death, disease transmission, and drug resistance. Treatment interruption is often due to patient-related factors—classed as loss to follow-up (LTFU)—but … Read more
Systems-based Approaches to Improving Medication Adherence
With the shift from a disease landscape that focuses on the treatment of acute and short-term illnesses to one that faces an increasing burden of chronic diseases that may require life-long medicine use, the role of medicines in ensuring a healthy population is more important than ever. However,even when medicines are available, patients may not … Read more
Preventing and Minimizing Risks Associated with Antituberculosis Medicines to Improve Patient Safety
All medicines carry some risk of adverse events; although certain risks are identified when medicines are tested during clinical trials, others aren’t recognized until after the medicine is on the market and has been used in “real world” settings. Adverse events not only endanger the health of patients, but if not well managed, they may … Read more