ACTing in Partnership to Accelerate Impact.

Partnership between funders plays a vital role in tackling the AIDS epidemic and can help partners deliver "more than the sum of their parts." But how do partnerships form? How is value leveraged and maximized? How can partnerships achieve policy change? This article addresses these questions through the example of the Accelerating Children's HIV/AIDS Treatment Initiative, an ambitious $200 million public private partnership with a goal of doubling the number of children living with HIV on treatment in 9 priority African countries over a 2-year period. It describes how the partnership formed between the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and the differing styles, vision, and resources each organization contributed.

Randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of an interactive group counseling intervention for HIV-positive women on prenatal depression and disclosure of HIV status.

The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of group counseling, using a problem-solving therapy approach, on reducing depressive symptoms and increasing prenatal disclosure rates of HIV status among HIV-positive pregnant women living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A randomized controlled trial was performed comparing a six-week structured nurse-midwife facilitated psychosocial support group with the standard of care. Sixty percent of women in the intervention group were depressed post-intervention, versus 73% in the control group [Relative Risk (RR) = 0.

Enumeration of CD4+ T-cells using a portable microchip count platform in Tanzanian HIV-infected patients.

Background: CD4(+) T-lymphocyte count (CD4 count) is a standard method used to monitor HIV-infected patients during anti-retroviral therapy (ART). The World Health Organization (WHO) has pointed out or recommended that a handheld, point-of-care, reliable, and affordable CD4 count platform is urgently needed in resource-scarce settings.

Methods: HIV-infected patient blood samples were tested at the point-of-care using a portable and label-free microchip CD4 count platform that we have developed.

Burden of disease and barriers to the diagnosis and treatment of group a beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis for the prevention of rheumatic heart disease in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

To understand patient and clinician attitudes toward Streptococcus pharyngitis and rheumatic heart disease prevention in Tanzania, data from 3 sources were obtained: a survey of 119 clinicians, outpatient rapid test screening, and interviews with 17 rheumatic heart disease patients. Patients do not seek care for sore throat. Clinicians stated that identifying and treating Streptococcus pharyngitis is not prioritized.