"Ashamed of being seen in an HIV clinic": a qualitative analysis of barriers to engaging in HIV care from the perspectives of patients and healthcare workers in the Daraja clinical trial.

Background: There is high post-hospital discharge mortality among persons with HIV who are hospitalized, and post-hospital survival is strongly associated with early HIV clinic linkage, clinic attendance, and antiretroviral therapy adherence. The Daraja intervention, a context-tailored case management strategy implemented and tested through a randomized trial in Tanzania, was associated with improved HIV clinic linkage, retention, and ART initiation and adherence.

Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews (IDIs) in a sub-sample of 40 study participants (20 control and 20 intervention) 12 months after enrollment into the trial to gain an in-depth understanding of the barriers to HIV care engagement and the perceived mechanisms through which the Daraja intervention impacted these barriers.

Linkage Case Management and Posthospitalization Outcomes in People With HIV: The Daraja Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Despite the widespread availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART), people with HIV still experience high mortality after hospital admission.

Objective: To determine whether a linkage case management intervention (named "Daraja" ["bridge" in Kiswahili]) that was designed to address barriers to HIV care engagement could improve posthospital outcomes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Single-blind, individually randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the Daraja intervention.

Quantitative Synthesis of Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Vaccine Hesitancy in 185 Countries.

Mass vaccination against COVID-19 is the best method to ensure herd immunity in order to curb the effect of the pandemic on the global economy. It is therefore important to assess the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy on a global scale. Factors were recorded from cross-sectional studies analyzed with -Test, ANOVA, correlation, and meta-regression analyses and synthesized to identify global trends in order to inform policy.

Commentary on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Rates of vaccination against COVID-19 remain lower in sub-Saharan Africa than in other low and middle-income regions. This is, in part, attributed to vaccine hesitancy, mainly due to misinformation about vaccine origin, efficacy and safety. From August to December 2021, we gathered the latest experiences and opinions on four vaccine hesitancy-related areas (policies, perceived risk religious beliefs, and misinformation) from 12 sub-Saharan African researchers, four of whom have published about COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.