People who inject drugs face stigmatization by society in general, and also by healthcare workers. This creates incentives for individuals with addiction to conceal their drug use, which can interfere with optimal medical care. There are several common misconceptions about individuals who use injection drugs, including the belief that they do not care about their health. The reality is that sub...

AIMS To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of rapid hepatitis C virus (HCV) and simultaneous HCV/HIV antibody testing in substance abuse treatment programs. DESIGN We used a decision analytic model to compare the cost-effectiveness of no HCV testing referral or offer, off-site HCV testing referral, on-site rapid HCV testing offer and on-site rapid HCV and HIV testing offer. Base case inputs incl...

BACKGROUND Nigeria is a key target country in the global effort toward elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Low coverage of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) interventions, adherence, and retention-in-care rates in HIV-positive pregnant women are contributing factors to high mother-to-child transmission of HIV (MTCT) rates. In Nigeria, rural areas, served largely...

The global human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic reached staggering proportions over the past 2 decades, particularly in areas of sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries. Tremendous increases in donor resources over the past decade have allowed for a rapid scale-up of antiretroviral treatment and greater access to basic care and prevention programs in countries worst affected by...

BACKGROUND Current laboratory and point-of-care tests for HIV detect different analytes and use different sample types. Some have fast turnaround times (<1 hour). We investigated how HIV test choice could impact case finding by testing programs. METHODS We analyzed 21,234 consecutive HIV tests with venous blood obtained by San Francisco HIV testing programs from 2003 to 2008. For a subset, or...

CONTEXT Data to Care (DTC) represents a public health strategy using HIV surveillance data to link persons living with diagnosed HIV infection (PLWDHI) to HIV-related medical care. OBJECTIVE To investigate the feasibility of the DTC approach applied to a Partner Services program serving a geographically diffuse area of New York State. DESIGN Disease intervention specialists received trainin...

Scientific advances have transformed HIV treatment and prevention, leading to the adoption of an approach that emphasizes broad testing and antiretroviral treatment at earlier stages in the disease, called "test and treat." In addition to clinical benefits, early treatment generates considerable social and economic value. These changes raise the prospect that for the first time since the 1980s,...

BACKGROUND Improving the outcomes of HIV/AIDS treatment programs in resource-limited settings requires successful linkage of patients testing positive for HIV to pre-antiretroviral therapy (ART) care and retention in pre-ART care until ART initiation. We conducted a systematic review of pre-ART retention in care in Africa. METHODS AND FINDINGS We searched PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, confere...

abstract background and aims: the burden of hiv infection and disease continues to be a major global public health concern all over the world. this study was conducted to measure igg antibody against ebv viral capsid antigen (ebv-vca igg), herpes simplex type1, and 2 to determine the seroprevalence of this infection in hiv-positive population. materials and methods: a cross-sectional study betw...

The experiences of the past 10 years have shown that it is feasible to treat HIV infected patients with ART even in severely resource constrained settings. Achieving the levels of antiretroviral coverage necessary to impact the course of the HIV epidemic remains a challenge and antiretroviral therapy coverage in most nations remains short of even current recommendations. Though treatment as pre...