Toward a New Paradigm of North-South and South-South Partnerships for Pandemic Preparedness: Lessons Learned from COVID-19 and Other Outbreaks.

COVID-19 underscores the need to reimagine North-South partnerships and redefine best practices for building public health and research capacity to address emergent health threats and pandemic preparedness in low- and-middle income countries (LMICs). Historically, outbreak and emergency responses have failed to ensure that the Global South has the autonomy and capacity to respond to public health threats in a timely and equitable manner. The COVID-19 response, however, has demonstrated that innovations and solutions in the Global South can not only fill resource and capacity gaps in LMICs but can also provide solutions to challenges globally.

Impact of Traditional Healers on the HIV Care Cascade in Senegal, West Africa: A Longitudinal Study.

Consultation with traditional healers (THs) is common among people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted a prospective longitudinal study to determine the association between consultation with THs and HIV outcomes following 12 months of antiretroviral therapy (ART). HIV-infected individuals presenting for care and initiation of ART in Dakar and Ziguinchor, Senegal were eligible for enrollment.

Food insecurity predicts loss to follow-up among people living with HIV in Senegal, West Africa.

The goals of this study were to assess retention on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and to identify predictors of loss to follow-up (LTFU) among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Senegal. HIV-positive individuals presenting for initiation of ART in Dakar and Ziguinchor were enrolled and followed for 12 months. Data were collected using interviews, clinical evaluations, laboratory analyses, chart review, and active patient tracing.

The impact of food insecurity on HIV outcomes in Senegal, West Africa: a prospective longitudinal study.

Background: Understanding the impact of food insecurity on HIV outcomes is critical for the development and implementation of effective, evidence-based interventions to address food insecurity and improve the HIV care cascade. We conducted a prospective, longitudinal study to determine the impact of food insecurity on HIV outcomes in Senegal, West Africa.

Methods: HIV-infected individuals presenting for care and initiation of ART through the Senegalese National AIDS program in Dakar and Ziguinchor were eligible for enrollment.

Long-term Experience and Outcomes of Programmatic Antiretroviral Therapy for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 Infection in Senegal, West Africa.

Background: Programmatic treatment outcome data for people living with human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) in West Africa, where the virus is most prevalent, are scarce.

Methods: Adults with HIV-2 initiating or receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) through the Senegalese national AIDS program were invited to participate in this prospective, longitudinal observational cohort study. We analyzed HIV-2 viral loads, CD4 cell counts, antiretroviral drug resistance, loss to follow-up, and mortality.

Medicine donation programmes supporting the global drive to end the burden of neglected tropical diseases.

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are targeted for global control or elimination. Recognising that the populations most in need of medicines to target NTDs are those least able to support and sustain them financially, the pharmaceutical industry created mechanisms for donating medicines and expertise to affected countries through partnerships with the WHO, development agencies, non-governmental organisations and philanthropic donors. In the last 30 y, companies have established programmes to donate 17 different medicines to overcome the burden of NTDs.

Pathology of Senegalese breast cancers.

Introduction: Breast cancer is among the most common cancers among women in most of Africa. However, features of histologically confirmed breast cancers presenting in specific regional populations is limited. Our study describes the clinic-pathologic features of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in women undergoing biopsy for a clinically apparent mass in Senegal, West Africa.

[HIV-2 infection in Senegal: virological failures and resistance to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs)].

Introduction: HIV-2, endemic in West Africa, has a natural resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) which makes it difficult to treat it in developing countries.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive, longitudinal, prospective study over the period November 2005-June 2017. Virologic failure has been defined as any viral load greater than 50 copies/ml after 6 months of ARV treatment administered twice.

Correction: Increasing prevalence of hypertension among HIV-positive and negative adults in Senegal, West Africa, 1994-2015.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Increasing prevalence of hypertension among HIV-positive and negative adults in Senegal, West Africa, 1994-2015.

Background: Non-communicable diseases, including hypertension (HTN), are increasingly recognized as important causes of morbidity and mortality among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in resource-limited settings. The goals of this study were to determine the prevalence of HTN among PLHIV in Senegal over time and to identify predictors of HTN among HIV-positive versus HIV-negative adults.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study using data from individuals enrolled in previous studies in Senegal from 1994-2015.

ART initiation in an outpatient treatment center in Dakar, Senegal: A retrospective cohort analysis (1998-2015).

Objective: To examine how patient characteristics combined with ART eligibility expansions affect the initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among eligible patients attending a referral center in Senegal from 1998 to 2015.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational study carried out at the outpatient treatment Centre (Centre de Traitement Ambulatoire) in Dakar, Senegal, based on computerized medical records, gathered from 1998 to 2015, of ART-naïve patients over 15 years of age. ART eligibility was defined as (CD4 count below 200) or as (WHO stage 4) or as (WHO stage 3 with (CD4 count below 350 or with unavailable CD4 count)) in 1998-2010; as (CD4 count below 350) or as (WHO stage 3 or 4) in 2011-2013; as (CD4 count below 500) or as (WHO stage 3 or 4) in 2014-2015.

Female genital mutilation and noninvasive cervical abnormalities and invasive cervical cancer in Senegal, West Africa: A retrospective study.

Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is a traditional practice that affects a significant portion of women in sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt, areas of the Middle East and some countries in Asia. While clinical and epidemiological studies have established a close association between inflammation and carcinogenesis, particularly in epithelial cancers, the relationship between FGM/C and cervical cancer is not well known. We performed a secondary analysis using combined data from six research studies conducted in and around Dakar, Senegal from 1994 to 2012.

HIV and the dual burden of malnutrition in Senegal, 1994-2012.

The aims of this study were to determine the nutritional status of HIV-positive versus HIV-negative adults in Senegal and to identify predictors of nutritional status among people living with HIV (PLHIV). We conducted a retrospective study using data from individuals enrolled in previous studies in Senegal. Undernutrition was defined as body mass index (BMI) <18.

A Trial of a Single-tablet Regimen of Elvitegravir, Cobicistat, Emtricitabine, and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate for the Initial Treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 Infection in a Resource-limited Setting: 48-Week Results From Senegal, West Africa.

Background: There is an urgent need for safe and effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) for human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) infection. We undertook the first clinical trial of a single-tablet regimen containing elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (E/C/F/TDF) to assess its effectiveness in HIV-2-infected individuals in Senegal, West Africa.

Methods: HIV-2-infected, ART-naive adults with World Health Organization stage 3-4 disease or CD4 count <750 cells/μL were eligible for this 48-week, open-label trial.

Sex-dependent interactions between leptin, wasting and humoral immunity in two ethnic communities of school-aged children differentially exposed to Schistosoma haematobium.

Background: Leptin is a nutritional hormone whose production is generally higher in females. We investigated how leptin is associated with sex dimorphism during urinary schistosomiasis in relation with wasting.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in three villages in northern Senegal.

Improving antiretroviral therapy adherence in resource-limited settings at scale: a discussion of interventions and recommendations.

: Successful population-level antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence will be necessary to realize both the clinical and prevention benefits of antiretroviral scale-up and, ultimately, the end of AIDS. Although many people living with HIV are adhering well, others struggle and most are likely to experience challenges in adherence that may threaten virologic suppression at some point during lifelong therapy. Despite the importance of ART adherence, supportive interventions have generally not been implemented at scale.

A Comparison of the Natural History of HPV Infection and Cervical Abnormalities among HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Women in Senegal, Africa.

There is evidence of an interaction between HIV and human papillomavirus (HPV) resulting in increased HPV-associated morbidity and cancer mortality among HIV-positive women. This study aims to determine how the natural history of cervical HPV infection differs by HIV status. A total of 1,320 women (47% were positive for HIV-1 and/or HIV-2) were followed for an average of two years in Senegal, West Africa between 1994 and 2010.

Cost Effectiveness of Potential ART Adherence Monitoring Interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Interventions based around objective measurement of adherence to antiretroviral drugs for HIV have potential to improve adherence and to enable differentiation of care such that clinical visits are reduced in those with high adherence. It would be useful to understand the approximate upper limit of cost that could be considered for such interventions of a given effectiveness in order to be cost effective. Such information can guide whether to implement an intervention in the light of a trial showing a certain effectiveness and cost.

Accelerating the Uptake and Timing of Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Operations Research Agenda.

Sydney Rosen and colleagues describe an operations research agenda to accelerating uptake of HIV treatment initiation.

Daily consumption of ready-to-use peanut-based therapeutic food increased fat free mass, improved anemic status but has no impact on the zinc status of people living with HIV/AIDS: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa and malnutrition constitute the main obstacles for successful treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH). The aim of this study was to assess the effect of consuming daily 100 g RUTF (ready-to-use therapeutic food) as supplement, on body composition, anemia and zinc status of hospitalized PLWH in Senegal.

Methods: A Controlled clinical trial was conducted in 65 PLWH randomly allocated to receive either standard hospital diet alone (Control group: n = 33), or the standard diet supplemented with 100 g RUTF/day (RUTF group: n = 32).

The Nucleoside Analog BMS-986001 Shows Greater In Vitro Activity against HIV-2 than against HIV-1.

Treatment options for individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) are restricted by the intrinsic resistance of the virus to nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) and the reduced susceptibility of HIV-2 to several protease inhibitors (PIs) used in antiretroviral therapy (ART). In an effort to identify new antiretrovirals for HIV-2 treatment, we evaluated the in vitro activity of the investigational nucleoside analog BMS-986001 (2',3'-didehydro-3'-deoxy-4'-ethynylthymidine; also known as censavudine, festinavir, OBP-601, 4'-ethynyl stavudine, or 4'-ethynyl-d4T). In single-cycle assays, BMS-986001 inhibited HIV-2 isolates from treatment-naive individuals, with 50% effective concentrations (EC50s) ranging from 30 to 81 nM.

The association between HPV, intraepithelial lesions and HIV-1 shedding in anogenital specimens in two contrasting populations: Senegalese women and American MSM.

In light of observational evidence showing an association between human papillomavirus (HPV) and HIV acquisition risk, the potential of HPV vaccination as a HIV prevention strategy is being considered. However, the relationship between HPV and HIV infectiousness is unclear. In this analysis, the relationship between HPV and anogenital HIV shedding (a proxy for transmissibility) was assessed in two diverse populations: HIV-infected Senegalese women and American men who have sex with men (MSM).