Adherence to standard treatment guidelines among prescribers in primary healthcare facilities in the Dodoma region of Tanzania.

Background: Tanzania's primary healthcare system suffers from a scarcity of financial and human resources that impedes its effectiveness to deliver dependable and uniform quality healthcare. Adherence to standard treatment guidelines (STG) can help provide more consistent and correct diagnoses and treatments and limit the irrational use of medicines and the negative health consequences that can occur as a result. The purpose of this study was to investigate prescribers' adherence of their diagnoses and respective treatments to national STG and to identify potential areas for planning interventions.

Variability of efavirenz plasma concentrations among pediatric HIV patients treated with efavirenz based combination antiretroviral therapy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Background: Children are subject to varying drug pharmacokinetics which influence plasma drug levels, and hence treatment outcomes especially for drugs like efavirenz whose plasma concentrations are directly related to treatment outcomes. This study is aimed at determining plasma efavirenz concentrations among Tanzanian pediatric HIV-1 patients on efavirenz-based combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) and relating it to clinical, immunological and virologic treatment responses.

Methods: A cross sectional study involving pediatric HIV patients aged 5-15 years on efavirenz-based cART for ≥ 6 months were recruited in Dar es Salaam.