Standard of care in advanced HIV disease: review of HIV treatment guidelines in six sub-Saharan African countries.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends an evidence-based package of care to reduce mortality and morbidity among people with advanced HIV disease (AHD). Adoption of these recommendations by national guidelines in sub-Saharan Africa is poorly documented. We aimed to review national guidelines for AHD management across six selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa for benchmarking against the 2021 WHO recommendations. METHODS: We reviewed national guidelines from six countries participating in an ongoing randomized controlled trial recruiting people with AHD. We extracted information addressing 18 items of AHD diagnosis and management across the following domains: [1] Definition of AHD, [2] Screening, [3] Prophylaxis, [4] Supportive care, and [5] HIV treatment. Data from national guideline documents were compared to the 2021 WHO consolidated guidelines on HIV and an agreement score was produced to evaluate extent of guideline adoption. RESULTS: The distribution of categories of agreement varied for the national documents. Four of the six countries addressed all 18 items (Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda). Overall agreement with the WHO 2021 guidelines ranged from 9 to 15.5 out of 18 possible points: Malawi 15.5 points, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone 14.5 points, South Africa 13.5 points, Uganda 13.0 points and Botswana with 9.0 points. Most inconsistencies were reported for the delay of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in presence of opportunistic diseases. None of the six national guidelines aligned with WHO recommendations around ART timing in patients with tuberculosis. Agreement correlated with the year of publication of the national guideline. CONCLUSION: National guidelines addressing the care of advanced HIV disease in sub-Saharan Africa are available. Besides optimal timing for start of ART in presence of tuberculosis, most national recommendations are in line with the 2021 WHO standards.

Adherence of health workers to guidelines for screening and management of cryptococcal meningitis in Uganda.

INTRODUCTION: Health workers' failure to adhere to guidelines for screening, diagnosis and management of HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis (CM) remains a significant public health concern. We aimed to assess adherence to the standards of care and management of HIV patients at risk of CM per the MoH guidelines and assess stock management of CM supplies in the period of January to June 2021 at selected public health facilities (HFs) in Uganda. METHODS: The study employed an observational cross-sectional design to assess the level of adherence of health workers to standards of clinical care and management of HIV positive patients at risk of CM as per the clinical guidelines for Uganda, and stock management of CM supplies in the period of January to June 2021in selected public health facilities. The study team used a survey guide designed by MoH to assess and score the screening, diagnosis and management practices of Health Facilities towards CM. Scoring was categorized as red (< 80%), light green (80%-95%), and dark green (˃95%) in the order from worst to best adherence. The data was transcribed into a spread sheet and analysed using STATA-v15. RESULTS: The study team visited a total of 15 public health facilities including 5 general hospitals, 9 regional referral hospitals (RRHs) and 1 National Referral hospital (NRH). The mean score for adherence to screening and management of CM for all the combined facilities was 15 (64.7%) classified as red. 10 (66.7%) HFs had not performed a baseline CD4 test for eligible patients within 2 weeks of ART initiation. With regards to treatment, 9 (60%) of the HFs were scored as light green on knowledge of the procedure for reconstituting intravenous Liposomal Amphotericin B. None of the HFs visited had potassium chloride tablets in stock. CONCLUSION: Major MoH guidelines are generally not being adhered to by health workers while managing cryptococcal meningitis. It is vital that government and implementing partners regularly support HFs with training, mentorship, and support supervision on CM management to improve adherence to CM screening and treatment guidelines.

AMBIsome Therapy Induction OptimisatioN (AMBITION): High dose AmBisome for cryptococcal meningitis induction therapy in sub-Saharan Africa: economic evaluation protocol for a randomised controlled trial-based equivalence study.

INTRODUCTION: Cryptococcal meningitis is responsible for around 15% of all HIV-related deaths globally. Conventional treatment courses with amphotericin B require prolonged hospitalisation and are associated with multiple toxicities and poor outcomes. A phase II study has shown that a single high dose of liposomal amphotericin may be comparable to standard treatment. We propose a phase III clinical endpoint trial comparing single, high-dose liposomal amphotericin with the WHO recommended first-line treatment at six sites across five counties. An economic analysis is essential to support wide-scale implementation. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Country-specific economic evaluation tools will be developed across the five country settings. Details of patient and household out-of-pocket expenses and any catastrophic healthcare expenditure incurred will be collected via interviews from trial patients. Health service patient costs and related household expenditure in both arms will be compared over the trial period in a probabilistic approach, using Monte Carlo bootstrapping methods. Costing information and number of life-years survived will be used as the input to a decision-analytic model to assess the cost-effectiveness of a single, high-dose liposomal amphotericin to the standard treatment. In addition, these results will be compared with a historical cohort from another clinical trial. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The AMBIsome Therapy Induction OptimisatioN (AMBITION) trial has been evaluated and approved by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Botswana, Malawi National Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Mulago Hospital and Zimbabwe Medical Research Council research ethics committees. All participants will provide written informed consent or if lacking capacity will have consent provided by a proxy. The findings of this economic analysis, part of the AMBITION trial, will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and at international and country-level policy meetings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN 7250 9687; Pre-results.

Short course amphotericin B with high dose fluconazole for HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis.

OBJECTIVE: To define more rapidly effective initial antifungal regimens sustainable in resource-constrained settings. METHODS: Cohort study in SW Uganda: Thirty HIV-seropositive, antiretroviral therapy-naïve, patients with first episode cryptococcal meningitis were treated with high dose fluconazole (1200 mg/d for 2 weeks, then 800 mg/d until ART started) plus amphotericin B (AmB, 1 mg/kg/d), with routine normal saline and potassium supplementation, for the initial 5 days. Outcome measures were early fungicidal activity (EFA), determined by serial quantitative CSF cultures, safety, and mortality. RESULTS: EFA was -0.30 ± 0.11 log CFU/day calculated over the first 2 weeks of treatment, with no reduction in the rate of clearance between days 5 and 14. There was no grade IV hypokalemia or elevated creatinine, and no grade III or IV anemia or elevation of ALT. AmB or high dose fluconazole were not stopped early in any patient. Mortality was 23% at 2, and 28% at 10 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Short course AmB was associated with rapid clearance of infection and was well-tolerated, suggesting it could be used safely in many centres currently relying on fluconazole monotherapy. Phase III trials are needed in African centres to compare short course with the standard 2-week course of AmB.