Collaboration between traditional health practitioners and biomedical health practitioners: Scoping review.

Background:  Collaboration between traditional health practitioners (THPs) and biomedical health practitioners (BHPs) is highly recommended in catering for pluralistic healthcare users. Little is known about bidirectional collaborations at healthcare service provision level.

Aim:  To map global evidence on collaboration attempts between THPs and BHPs between January 1978 and August 2023.

Enhancing linkage to HIV care in the "Universal Test and Treat" era: Barriers and enablers to HIV care among adults in a high HIV burdened district in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Ending AIDS by 2030 would depend on how successful health systems are in linking people living with HIV (PLHIV) into care. The World Health Organization recommended the 'Universal Test and Treat' (UTT) strategy - initiating all individuals testing positive on antiretroviral therapy (ART) irrespective of their CD4 count and clinical staging. This study aimed to explore the enablers and barriers to linkage to HIV care among adults with a new HIV diagnosis in a high-HIV prevalent rural district in South Africa.

Healthcare provider perceptions on the implementation of the universal test-and-treat policy in South Africa: a qualitative inquiry.

Background: South Africa had an estimated 7.5 million people living with HIV (PLHIV), accounting for approximately 20% of the 38.4 million PLHIV globally in 2021.

Service delivery models that promote linkages to PrEP for adolescent girls and young women and men in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an emerging biomedical prevention intervention. Documenting PrEP service delivery models (SDMs) that promote linkage to and continuation of PrEP will inform guidelines and maximise roll-out.

Objectives: To synthesise and appraise the effectiveness and feasibility of PrEP SDMs designed to promote linkage to PrEP care among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and men in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Service delivery models for enhancing linkage to and retention in HIV care services for adolescent girls and young women and adolescent boys and young men: a protocol for an overview of systematic reviews.

Introduction: Recent advances in the HIV care continuum have shown that an individual diagnosed with HIV should be initiated on antiretroviral therapy as soon as possible regardless of the CD4 count levels and retained in HIV care services. Studies have reported large losses in the HIV continuum of care, before and after the era of universal test and treat. Several systematic reviews have reported on the strategies for improving linkage to and retention in HIV treatment and care.

Linkage to HIV Care and Early Retention in Care Rates in the Universal Test-and-Treat Era: A Population-based Prospective Study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

HIV linkage, and retention are key weaknesses in South Africa's national antiretroviral therapy (ART) program, with the greatest loss of patients in the HIV treatment pathway occurring before ART initiation. This study investigated linkage-to and early-retention-in-care (LTRIC) rates among adults newly diagnosed with HIV in a high-HIV prevalent rural district. We conducted an observational prospective cohort study to investigate LTRIC rates for adults with a new HIV diagnosis in South Africa.

Barriers and Facilitating Factors to HIV Treatment Among Men in a High-HIV-Burdened District in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A Qualitative Study.

Despite enormous increases in the proportion of people living with HIV accessing treatment in sub-Saharan Africa, major gender disparities persist, with men experiencing lower rates of testing, linkage to treatment, and retention in care. In this study, we investigated the barriers and facilitating factors to HIV treatment among men in uThukela, a high-HIV-burdened district in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. We conducted a qualitative study including nine Black African male participants who were recruited from 18 health care facilities in uThukela District, KwaZulu-Natal province.

Strengthening health system's capacity for pre-exposure prophylaxis for adolescent girls and young women and adolescent boys and young men in South Africa (SHeS'Cap-PrEP): Protocol for a mixed methods study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Introduction: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective prevention intervention that can be used to control HIV incidence especially among people who are at increased risk for HIV such as adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and adolescent boys and young men (ABYM). In South Africa, various approaches of delivering PrEP have been adopted at different service delivery points (facility-based only, school-based only, community-based only and hybrid school-facility and community-facility models) to overcome challenges associated with individual, structural, and health systems related barriers that may hinder access to and uptake of PrEP among these populations. However, little is known about how to optimize PrEP implementation and operational strategies to achieve high sustained uptake of good quality services for AGYW and ABYM.

Evidence of past and current collaborations between traditional health practitioners and biomedical health practitioners: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: Healthcare seekers around the globe use more than one healthcare system, with most using the traditional and the Western approaches concurrently. To date, little collaboration between the two systems has taken place within the mental health space compared with other areas of medicine. In order to inform integrating plans for traditional health practitioners and biomedical health practitioners in the South African mental health system, it is important to know which models of collaboration are used in other medical settings and contexts.

A qualitative study exploring infant feeding decision-making between birth and 6 months among HIV-positive mothers.

Despite efforts to support breastfeeding for HIV-positive mothers in South Africa, being HIV-positive remains a barrier to initiating and sustaining breastfeeding. The aim was to explore decision-making about infant feeding practices among HIV-positive mothers in a rural and urban settings in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. HIV-positive pregnant women were purposively sampled from one antenatal clinic in each setting.

Autonomy and infant feeding decision-making among teenage mothers in a rural and urban setting in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Background: The nutritional status of infants born to teenage mothers can be sub-optimal compared to those born to older mothers. One contributing factor is inappropriate feeding practices adopted by teenage mothers. Little is known about how infant feeding decisions are made among teenage mothers, particularly in under resourced settings.

Enablers and barriers to success among mothers planning to exclusively breastfeed for six months: a qualitative prospective cohort study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months of life is the most important determinant of child health and development, and is the recommended feeding practice for all mothers. However, EBF rates remain low in South Africa. This study aimed to prospectively explore enablers or barriers to success among mothers who planned to exclusively breastfeed their infants for the first six months of life, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Insights into health care seeking behaviour for children in communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Background: South African infant and child mortality remains high, with many deaths occurring outside the formal health services. Delayed health care seeking represents a large proportion of these deaths.

Aim: To generate knowledge about the role of, and influences on, caregivers with regard to decision-making about when and where to seek care for sick children.

Implementation of Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Rural Primary Healthcare Clinics in South Africa: Perspectives of Key Stakeholders.

Introduction: Key stakeholders' involvement is crucial to the sustainability of quality point-of-care (POC) diagnostics services in low-and-middle income countries. The aim of this study was to explore key stakeholder perceptions on the implementation of POC diagnostics in rural primary healthcare (PHC) clinics in South Africa.

Method: We conducted a qualitative study encompassing in-depth interviews with multiple key stakeholders of POC diagnostic services for rural and resource-limited PHC clinics.