Antiretroviral postnatal prophylaxis to prevent HIV vertical transmission: present and future strategies.

INTRODUCTION: Maternal antiretroviral therapy (ART) with viral suppression prior to conception, during pregnancy and throughout the breastfeeding period accompanied by infant postnatal prophylaxis (PNP) forms the foundation of current approaches to preventing vertical HIV transmission. Unfortunately, infants continue to acquire HIV infections, with half of these infections occurring during breastfeeding. A consultative meeting of stakeholders was held to review the current state of PNP globally, including the implementation of WHO PNP guidelines in different settings and identifying the key factors affecting PNP uptake and impact, with an aim to optimize future innovative strategies. DISCUSSION: WHO PNP guidelines have been widely implemented with adaptations to the programme context. Some programmes with low rates of antenatal care attendance, maternal HIV testing, maternal ART coverage and viral load testing capacity have opted against risk-stratification and provide an enhanced PNP regimen for all infants exposed to HIV, while other programmes provide infant daily nevirapine antiretroviral (ARV) prophylaxis for an extended duration to cover transmission risk throughout the breastfeeding period. A simplified risk stratification approach may be more relevant for high-performing vertical transmission prevention programmes, while a simplified non-risk stratified approach may be more appropriate for sub-optimally performing programmes given implementation challenges. In settings with concentrated epidemics, where the epidemic is often driven by key populations, infants who are found to be exposed to HIV should be considered at high risk for HIV acquisition. All settings could benefit from newer technologies that promote retention during pregnancy and throughout the breastfeeding period. There are several challenges in enhanced and extended PNP implementation, including ARV stockouts, lack of appropriate formulations, lack of guidance on alternative ARV options for prophylaxis, poor adherence, poor documentation, inconsistent infant feeding practices and in inadequate retention throughout the duration of breastfeeding. CONCLUSIONS: Tailoring PNP strategies to a programmatic context may improve access, adherence, retention and HIV-free outcomes of infants exposed to HIV. Newer ARV options and technologies that enable simplification of regimens, non-toxic potent agents and convenient administration, including longer-acting formulations, should be prioritized to optimize the effect of PNP in the prevention of vertical HIV transmission.

Palliative care research in Africa: consensus building for a prioritized agenda.

CONTEXT: Palliative care research in Africa is in its relative infancy, with dedicated financial support extremely limited. Therefore, setting research priorities to optimize use of limited resources is imperative. OBJECTIVES: To develop a prioritized research agenda for palliative care in Africa. METHODS: We used a two-stage process involving palliative care professionals and researchers: 1) generation of an initial topic list at a consultative workshop of experts and 2) prioritization of that list using a consensus development process, the nominal group technique. RESULTS: Phase 1: 41 topics were generated across five groups, with several topics nominated in more than one group. Phase 2: 16 topics and three broad thematic areas were identified. The two most prioritized topics within each of the three themes were the following: Theme 1: patient, family, and volunteers-1) care outcomes and the impact of palliative care as perceived by patients and caregivers and 2) palliative care needs of children; Theme 2: health providers-1) impact of palliative care training on care and practice and 2) integration of palliative care and antiretroviral therapy services; and Theme 3: health systems-1) palliative care needs assessments at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels and 2) integration of palliative care into health systems and educational curricula. CONCLUSION: Consensus-based palliative care topics determined by the study can assist researchers in optimizing limited research capacities by focusing on these prioritized areas. Subsequent to the identification and publication of the research agenda, concrete steps will be undertaken by the African Palliative Care Research Network and other partners to help implement it.

Palliative care needs of HIV exposed and infected children admitted to the inpatient paediatric unit in Uganda.

UNLABELLED: Paediatric palliative care is an emerging subspecialty that focuses on achieving the best possible quality of life for children with life-limiting conditions and also for their families. It is a response to the suffering and unique needs of such children. Globally there is limited documented data available on the palliative care needs of children with HIV. A retrospective review of data of all the HIV exposed and positive children who were admitted to the ward from January to December 2012 was done to document their palliative care needs. A total of 243 children were admitted to the ward during the stated period. Of these, 139 (57.2%) were female and 104 (42.8%) were male. Among them 131 (54%) were aged five years and below whereas 112 (46%) were above five years. Some of the identified palliative care needs documented included physical needs: pneumonia 46 (19%), severe acute malnutrition 38 (16%), mild and moderate acute malnutrition 23 (9.6%), and respiratory tract infections 22 (9.3%). Social needs: poor social support 21 (41%), financial instability 16 (31%), and child neglect 4 (8%). Psychological needs: antiretroviral treatment (ART) counselling 127 (36%), HIV counselling and testing for the child and family 63 (18%), adherence support 53 (15%), and others 11 (3%). Spiritual needs: discontinuing ART because of belief in spiritual healing 18 (81%), loss of hope because of severe ill health 1 (5%), and others 3 (14%). These results emphasise the need for palliative care in children with HIV even in the era of ART. The needs identified are in keeping with studies done elsewhere and are similar to the palliative care needs of children with other life-limiting illnesses such as cancer. CONCLUSION: HIV positive and exposed children plus their families have vast palliative care needs and a holistic approach is the key in their management.