DFID's Susan Elden showcases COMDIS work in Swaziland on HIV/AIDS Care

Current DFID health advisor and former COMDIS staff member Susan Elden presented her findings at the AIDS 2010: XVIII International AIDS Conference in Austria on the 20th July.

This COMDIS research was highlighted through a poster titled "Improving quality through structured pre-ART care: Lessons from rural Swaziland"

The poster shares lessons from a study conducted in the Lubombo region in Swaziland that focuses on ART, or antiretroviral therapy, which is the use of drugs to suppress the HIV virus and stop the disease from progressing.

HIV is highly prevalent in Swaziland and therefore a national focus on HIV testing ART provision has left a void of care between testing and treatment. The operational research conducted in Pre-ART care, or care for patients before they are put on antiretroviral therapy, was previously delivered in a fragmented manner which included a lack of patient follow-up. This research showed that creating a simplified pathway, task shifting to nurses, and following patient outcomes, improved the quality of care and was feasible to implement in a busy hospital setting.

The Swaziland team has collected further data which examines the sustainability of this programme over time. The findings from this study are currently being written with anticipated publication in the near future.

Visit www.aids2010.org for more information on the conference.