Abstract:

HIV/AIDS continues to be a global public health concern. At the end of 2019, an estimated 38 million people were living with HIV globally of which 87% knew their HIV status, 67% were on antiretroviral therapy and 59% had achieved HIV viral load suppression with no risk of infecting others. WHO recommends multi-month dispensing of ART for up to 6 months in patients who are clinically stable due to the positive effects of reducing the burden on health systems, and saving time and opportunity costs for patients. The study was a retrospective cohort study based on secondary data collected routinely from health facilities with a sampling frame covering the entire country extracted from SmartCare. Both adults and children who had received ART between 1st January 2015 and 30th June 2020 were included in the study and were tracked through to 30th June 2021. This study revealed that HIV-positive patients on ART and receiving multi-month dispensation are more likely to be retained in HIV care and treatment compared to those on the standard of care dispensation. In conclusion, this study has revealed that a multi-month dispensation of ART is an effective intervention to improve retention among people living with HIV. Therefore, there is a need to continue scaling up multi-month dispensation for all stable patients on ART in Zambia.

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