Postnatal clubs: Implementation of a differentiated and integrated model of care for mothers living with HIV and their HIV-exposed uninfected babies in Cape Town, South Africa.

Background: Despite the overall reduction in the HIV mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) rate in South Africa, poor adherence and retention in care during breastfeeding contribute to this period being a major driver of MTCT in South Africa. To improve this retention, postnatal clubs were created as an integrated, differentiated model of care providing psychosocial support and comprehensive care for the mother-infant pairs (MIP), including HIV and under-5-child services. We describe the implementation of these facility-based clubs and examine its health outcomes in a peri-urban primary health care setting in Cape Town, South Africa.

Paediatric HIV treatment failure: a silent epidemic.

Paediatric antiretroviral treatment (ART) failure is an under-recognized issue that receives inadequate attention in the field of paediatrics and within HIV treatment programmes. With paediatric ART failure rates ranging from 19.3% to over 32% in resource limited settings, a comprehensive evaluation of the causes of failure along with approaches to address barriers to treatment adherence are urgently needed.

Effectiveness of patient adherence groups as a model of care for stable patients on antiretroviral therapy in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa.

Background: Innovative models of care are required to cope with the ever-increasing number of patients on antiretroviral therapy in the most affected countries. This study, in Khayelitsha, South Africa, evaluates the effectiveness of a group-based model of care run predominantly by non-clinical staff in retaining patients in care and maintaining adherence.

Methods And Findings: Participation in "adherence clubs" was offered to adults who had been on ART for at least 18 months, had a current CD4 count >200 cells/ml and were virologically suppressed.