Antiretroviral therapy in the Malawi police force: access to therapy and treatment outcomes.

A national survey was carried out in all the 103 public sector and 38 private sector facilities in Malawi providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) to determine uptake of ART and subsequent treatment outcomes in police force personnel. All patients registered for ART and their subsequent treatment outcomes were censored on December 31st 2006. There were 85168 patients started on ART in both public and private sectors, of whom 463 (0.

Assessing the quality of data aggregated by antiretroviral treatment clinics in Malawi.

Problem: As national antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes scale-up, it is essential that information is complete, timely and accurate for site monitoring and national planning. The accuracy and completeness of reports independently compiled by ART facilities, however, is often not known.

Approach: This study assessed the quality of quarterly aggregate summary data for April to June 2006 compiled and reported by ART facilities ("site report") as compared to the "gold standard" facility summary data compiled independently by the Ministry of Health supervision team ("supervision report").

Antiretroviral therapy in the Malawi defence force: access, treatment outcomes and impact on mortality.

Background: HIV/AIDS affects all sectors of the population and the defence forces are not exempt. A national survey was conducted in all public and private sectors in Malawi that provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) to determine the uptake of ART by army personnel, their outcomes while on treatment, and the impact of ART on mortality in the Malawi Defence Force.

Methodology/principal Findings: A retrospective cohort analysis was carried out, collecting data on access and retention on treatment from all 103 public and 38 private sector ART clinics in Malawi, using standardised patient master cards and clinic registers.

A national survey of the impact of rapid scale-up of antiretroviral therapy on health-care workers in Malawi: effects on human resources and survival.

Objective: To assess the human resources impact of Malawis rapidly growing antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme and balance this against the survival benefit of health-care workers who have accessed ART themselves.

Methods: We conducted a national cross-sectional survey of the human resource allocation in all public-sector health facilities providing ART in mid-2006. We also undertook a survival analysis of health-care workers who had accessed ART in public and private facilities by 30 June 2006, using data from the national ART monitoring and evaluation system.

A national survey of teachers on antiretroviral therapy in Malawi: access, retention in therapy and survival.

Background: HIV/AIDS is having a devastating effect on the education sector in sub-Saharan Africa. A national survey was conducted in all public sector and private sector facilities in Malawi providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) to determine the uptake of ART by teachers and their outcomes while on treatment.

Methodology/principal Findings: A retrospective cohort study was carried out based on patient follow-up records from ART Registers and treatment master cards in all 138 ART clinics in Malawi; observations were censored on September 30(th) 2006.