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

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 imp...

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Published in:PloS one 2008-01, Vol.3 (1), p.e1445-e1445
Main Authors: Banda, Alfred C, Makombe, Simon D, Jahn, Andreas, Tweya, Hannock, Chuka, Stuart, Yu, Joseph Kwong-Leung, Hedt, Bethany, Weigel, Ralf, Nkhata, Amon, Schouten, Erik J, Kamoto, Kelita, Harries, Anthony D
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Language:English
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Summary: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. 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. Observations were censored on December 31(st) 2006. Independent data on mortality trends in army personnel from all causes between 2002 and 2006 were available from army records. By December 31(st) 2006, there were 85,168 patients ever started on ART in both public and private sectors, of whom 547 (0.7%) were army personnel. Of these, 22% started ART in WHO clinical stage 1 or 2 with a CD4-lymphocyte count of
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0001445