Bedside paediatric HIV testing in Malawi: Impact on testing rates.

Background: Provider initiated testing and counselling (PITC) is recommended for all inpatients in Malawi if they have not been tested in the previous 3 months. However testing rates remain low among children. We audited the effect of implementing a bedside diagnostic HIV testing service to determine if it would improve testing rates amongst paediatric inpatients.

Triple therapy of vincristine, bleomycin and etoposide for children with Kaposi sarcoma: Results of a study in Malawian children.

Background: Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is the most common paediatric cancer in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) endemic countries of sub-Saharan Africa, but there is little research on management and outcomes.

Methods: Children with KS at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi treated between August 2012 and March 2015 with six courses of vincristine, bleomycin and etoposide combination chemotherapy, including antiretroviral therapy (ART) if HIV infected, were studied and outcomes compared with previously reported results.

Findings: Fifty-six children were included; 38 (68%) were male; and 48 (86%) were HIV positive, of whom 36 (77%) were on ART at diagnosis.