Publications by authors named "Nduduzo Dube"
Introduction: Young women are disproportionately affected by HIV in South Africa and have a high incidence of unintended pregnancies. Access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, including HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), contraception and screening for seally transmitted infections (STIs), remains limited in South Africa, in part due to inadequate infrastructure and individual barriers to care. Integrated, community-based SRH services have the potential to overcome barriers to clinic-based care for women at risk of HIV, unintended pregnancy and STIs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Eswatini has a high HIV prevalence in adults and, despite being one of the first countries to achieve the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets, AIDS-related deaths are still high.
Objectives: This study describes the causes of death among people living with HIV (PLHIV) receiving care at five clinics in Eswatini.
Method: A cross-sectional review of sociodemographic, clinical and mortality data of deceased clients who received care from 01 January 2021 to 30 June 2022, was conducted.
Article Synopsis
- The study evaluated how the location of medication pick-up (community vs. clinic) affects virologic suppression rates among adults on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in a decentralized program in South Africa.
- Out of 1856 participants, over half chose community pick-up, with a high virologic suppression rate of 86% after one year.
- Results showed no significant difference in virologic suppression between community and clinic pick-up options, but enforcing clinic pick-up reduced virologic suppression rates.
We used the Practical, Robust Implementation and Sustainability Model to evaluate implementation of South Africa's Central Chronic Medicine Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) program, a differentiated service delivery program which allows clinically stable HIV-positive patients to receive antiretroviral therapy refills at clinic- or community-based pick-up points. Across ten clinics, we conducted 109 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders (pick-up point staff, CCMDD service providers and administrators) and 16 focus groups with 138 patients. Participants had highly favorable attitudes and said CCMDD decreased stigma concerns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The South African CCMDD program allows individuals living with HIV to collect their medication from various community or clinic locations, aiming to improve convenience and reduce clinic congestion.
- A study analyzed factors affecting the choice of community vs. clinic pick-up points, surveying over 1500 eligible adults in KwaZulu-Natal, focusing on aspects like age, employment, self-efficacy, and perceived barriers.
- Results showed that younger individuals, those employed full-time, and those with higher self-efficacy were more likely to utilize community pick-up points, driven by the convenience of location and hours while also facing challenges related to clinic follow-up after missed pickups.
Background: Turnaround time (TAT) is an important indicator of laboratory performance. It is often difficult to achieve fast TAT for blood tests conducted at clinics in developing countries. This is because clinics where the patient is treated are often far away from the laboratory, and transporting blood samples and test results between the two locations creates significant delay.
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