Estimating the costs of adolescent HIV care visits and an intervention to facilitate transition to adult care in Kenya.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa face challenges transitioning to adult HIV care, which can affect long-term HIV care adherence and retention. An adolescent transition package (ATP) focused on transition tools can improve post-transition clinical outcomes, but its implementation costs are unknown. METHODS: We estimated the average cost per patient of an HIV care visit and ATP provision to adolescents. Data was collected from 13 HIV clinics involved in a randomized clinical trial evaluating ATP in western Kenya. We conducted a micro-costing and activity-driven time estimation to assess costs from the provider perspective. We developed a flow-map, conducted staff interviews, and completed time and motion observation. ATP costs were estimated as the difference in average cost for an HIV care transition visit in the intervention compared to control facilities. We assessed uncertainty in costing estimates via Monte Carlo simulations. RESULTS: The average cost of an adolescent HIV care visit was 29.8USD (95%CI 27.5, 33.4) in the standard of care arm and 32.9USD (95%CI 30.5, 36.8) in the ATP intervention arm, yielding an incremental cost of 3.1USD (95%CI 3.0, 3.4) for the ATP intervention. The majority of the intervention cost (2.8USD) was due ATP booklet discussion with the adolescent. CONCLUSION: The ATP can be feasibly implemented in HIV care clinics at a modest increase in overall clinic visit cost. Our cost estimates can be used to inform economic evaluations or budgetary planning of adolescent HIV care interventions in Kenya.

U.S. patient preferences for long-acting HIV treatment: a discrete choice experiment.

INTRODUCTION: Recent advances in long-acting antiretroviral therapy (LA-ART) could provide new options for HIV treatment and reduce adherence barriers, if regimens are acceptable to patients. We elicited preferences for key attributes of potential LA-ART regimens among people with HIV (PWH) in the United States, focusing on four treatment modes (oral tablets, subcutaneous injections, intramuscular injections, and implants), product characteristics and location of administration. METHODS: A discrete choice experiment was conducted among PWH aged ≥18 years recruited from HIV clinics in Washington State and Atlanta, Georgia from March 2021 to June 2022. Participants responded to 17 choice scenarios, each with three options: two systematically generated hypothetical LA-ART regimens and a constant opt-out (their current daily oral treatment). LA-ART regimen descriptions included treatment mode, pain, dosing frequency, location, pre-treatment time with undetectable viral load, pre-treatment negative reaction testing and "late-dose leeway" (i.e. flexibility or forgiveness in timing the next dose). We used conditional logistic regression, with an interaction between treatment mode and pain, to estimate preference weights for all attribute levels. RESULTS: Seven hundred participants (350 at each site) enrolled, with median age 51 years (range 18-73); 70% identified as cisgender male, 24% as cisgender female and 6% as non-binary or transgender. LA oral tablets were the only mode preferred over current daily oral treatment, with annual implants and injections the next most preferred LA-ART option. Longer time between doses was preferred, and administration at home was preferred to clinics, which were preferred to pharmacies. Attributes with less impact on preferences included oral lead-in treatment to achieve viral suppression or test for negative reactions and late-dose leeway around the prescribed dosing interval. Participants in Atlanta were more likely to prefer their current daily oral ART than participants from Seattle. CONCLUSIONS: PWH in the United States may soon have several options for LA-ART. Our results suggest that LA oral tablets will be preferred by many patients over their current daily oral treatment, while implants and injections with longer duration may be acceptable to some. Future research should investigate sources of preference heterogeneity and actual uptake of and adherence to LA-ART products, when available.

Preference for daily oral pills over long-acting antiretroviral therapy options among people with HIV.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the characteristics of people with HIV (PWH) who prefer remaining on daily oral antiretroviral therapy (ART), rather than switching to long-acting ART (LA-ART). DESIGN: Building upon a discrete choice experiment (DCE), we examined characteristics of individuals who always selected their current daily oral tablet regimen over either of two hypothetical LA-ART options presented in a series of 17 choice tasks. METHODS: We used LASSO to select sociodemographic, HIV-related, and other health-related predictors of preferring current therapy over LA-ART, and logistic regression to measure the associations with those characteristics. RESULTS: Among 700 PWH in Washington State and Atlanta, Georgia, 11% of participants ( n  = 74) chose their current daily treatment over LA-ART in all DCE choice tasks. We found that people with lower educational attainment, good adherence, more aversion to injections, and who participated from Atlanta to be more likely to prefer their current daily regimen over LA-ART. CONCLUSIONS: Gaps in ART uptake and adherence remain, and emerging LA-ART treatments show promise to address these challenges and help a larger portion of PWH to achieve viral suppression, but preferences for these new treatments are understudied. Our results show that certain drawbacks of LA-ART may help to maintain demand for daily oral tablets, especially for PWH with certain characteristics. Some of these characteristics (lower educational attainment and Atlanta participation) were also associated with a lack of viral suppression. Future research should focus on overcoming barriers that impact preferences for LA-ART among those patients who could benefit most from this innovation.

Assessing preferences for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) delivery services via online pharmacies in Kenya: protocol for a discrete choice experiment.

INTRODUCTION: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective at preventing HIV acquisition, but coverage remains low in high prevalence settings. Initiating and continuing PrEP via online pharmacies is a promising strategy to expand PrEP uptake but little is known about user preferences for this strategy. We describe methods for a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to assess preferences for PrEP delivery from an online pharmacy. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This cross-sectional study is conducted in Nairobi, Kenya, in partnership with MYDAWA, a private online pharmacy retailer with a planned sample size of >400 participants. Eligibility criteria are: ≥18 years, not known HIV-positive and interested in PrEP. Initial DCE attributes and levels were developed via literature review and stakeholder meetings. We conducted cognitive interviews to assess participant understanding of the DCE survey and refined the design. The final DCE used a D-efficient design and contained four attributes: PrEP eligibility assessment, HIV test type, clinical consultation type and user support options. Participants are presented with eight scenarios consisting of two hypothetical PrEP delivery services. The survey was piloted among 20 participants before being advertised on the MYDAWA website on pages displaying products indicating HIV risk (eg, HIV self-test kits). Interested participants call a study number and those screened eligible meet a research assistant in a convenient location to complete the survey. The DCE will be analysed using a conditional logit model to assess average preferences and mixed logit and latent class models to evaluate preference heterogeneity among subgroups. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by the University of Washington Human Research Ethics Committee (STUDY00014011), the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi County (EOP/NMS/HS/128) and the Scientific and Ethics Review Unit in Kenya (KEMRI/RES/7/3/1). Participation in the DCE is voluntary and subject to completion of an electronic informed consent. Findings will be shared at international conferences and peer-reviewed publications, and via engagement meetings with stakeholders.

Cost of community-based human papillomavirus self-sampling in Peru: A micro-costing study.

Background: Cost data of human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling programs from low-and-middle-income countries is limited. We estimated the total and unit costs associated with the Hope Project, a community-based HPV self-sampling social entrepreneurship in Peru. Methods: We conducted a micro-costing analysis from the program perspective to determine the unit costs of (1) recruitment/training of community women (Hope Ladies); (2) Hope Ladies distributing HPV self-sampling kits in their communities and the laboratory testing; and (3) Hope Ladies linking screened women with follow-up care. A procedural manual was used to identify the program's activities. A structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews were conducted with administrators to estimate the resource/time associated with activities. We obtained unit costs for each input previously identified from budgets and expenditure reports. Findings: From November 2018 to March 2020, the program recruited and trained 62 Hope Ladies who distributed 4,882 HPV self-sampling kits in their communities. Of the screened women, 586 (12%) tested HPV positive. The annual cost per Hope Lady recruited/trained was $147·51 (2018 USD). The cost per HPV self-sampling kit distributed/tested was $45·39, the cost per woman followed up with results was $55·64, and the cost per HPV-positive woman identified was $378·14. Personnel and laboratory costs represented 56·1% and 24·7% of the total programmatic cost, respectively. Interpretation: Our findings indicate that implementation of a community-based HPV self-sampling has competitive prices, which increases its likelihood to be feasible in Peru. Further economic evaluation is needed to quantify the incremental benefits of HPV self-sampling compared to more established options such as Pap tests. Funding: Thomas Francis Jr. Fellowship provided funding for data collection. The Hope Project was funded by grants from Grand Challenges Canada (TTS-1812-21131), Uniting for Health Innovation, Global Initiative Against HPV and Cervical Cancer, University of Manitoba, and the John E. Fogarty International Center (5D43TW009375-05).

Assessing Payers' Preferences for Real-World Evidence in the United States: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

OBJECTIVES: To rank the US payers' preferences for attributes of real-world evidence (RWE) studies in the context of chronic disease and to quantify trade-offs among them. METHODS: We conducted a discrete choice experiment in which 180 employees from payer organizations were tasked to choose between 2 RWE studies assuming they were assessing evidence to inform formulary decisions for chronic disease treatment. Each RWE study was characterized by 7 attributes with 3 levels each: very informative, moderately informative, and not measured. We used a D-optimal main-effects design. Survey data were fitted to a conditional logit model to obtain a relative measure of the ranking of importance for each attribute. RESULTS: Clinical outcomes were the most preferred attribute. It was 4.68 times as important as productivity outcomes-the least preferred attribute. It was followed by health-related quality of life (2.78), methodologic rigor (2.09), resource utilization (1.71), and external validity (1.56). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a quantification of the value payers place on key RWE attributes. Across attributes, payers have higher preferences for clinical and health-related quality of life outcomes than the other attributes. Between attributes' levels, payers prefer high levels of information in clinical outcomes and methodologic rigor but are indifferent in other attributes. Our results bridge the gap between the information that payers seek and the attributes that RWE studies prioritize and effectively guide future research design.

Finding and treating early-stage HIV infections: A cost-effectiveness analysis of the Sabes study in Lima, Peru.

Background: Sabes, a treatment-as-prevention intervention among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Lima, Peru, was developed to identify HIV during early primary infection (<3 months from acquisition) through monthly serologic assays and HIV RNA tests. Newly diagnosed individuals were rapidly linked to care and offered to initiate ART. In this study we sought to study the cost-effectiveness of Sabes compared to the standard of care (SOC) for HIV testing and initiation of treatment. Methods: We adapted a compartmental model of HIV transmission to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the Sabes approach compared to the SOC using a government health care perspective, 20-year time horizon, and 3% annual discounting. We estimated the proportion of cases of HIV detected during early primary infection, reduction in HIV incidence and prevalence, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), and net monetary benefit. We analyzed costs using data from the Sabes study, the Peruvian Ministry of Health, published literature, and expert consultation. Findings: The Sabes intervention is projected to identify 9294 early primary HIV infections in Lima, Peru over 20 years. The intervention costs $6,896 per early primary infection diagnosed and by 2038 is expected to decrease the fraction of early infections among prevalent infections by 62%. Sabes is expected to improve health, resulting in greater total discounted QALYs per person than the SOC (16·7 vs 16·4, respectively). Sabes had an ICER of $1431 (22% per capita GDP in Peru) per QALY compared to SOC. Interpretation: Our analysis suggests that in Lima, Peru the Sabes intervention could be a cost-effective approach to reduce the burden of HIV even under stringent cost-effectiveness criteria. This finding suggests that programs that use frequent HIV testing, rapid linkage to care and initiation of ART should be considered as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy. Funding: National Institutes of Health.

HIV-Prevalence Mapping Using Small Area Estimation in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique at the First Sub-National Level.

Background: Local estimates of HIV-prevalence provide information that can be used to target interventions and consequently increase the efficiency of resources. This enhanced allocation can lead to better health outcomes, including the control of the disease spread, and for more people. Methods: In this study, we used the DHS data phase V to estimate HIV prevalence at the first-subnational level in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. We fitted the data to a spatial random effect intrinsic conditional autoregressive (ICAR) model to smooth the outcome. Further, we used a sampling specification from a multistage cluster design. Results: We found that Nyanza (Pi = 13.6%) and Nairobi (Pi = 7.1%) in Kenya, Iringa (Pi = 15.4%) and Mbeya (Pi = 9.3%) in Tanzania, and Gaza (Pi = 15.2%) and Maputo City (Pi = 12.9%) in Mozambique are the regions with the highest prevalence of HIV, within country. Our results are based on publicly available data that through statistically rigorous methods, allowed us to obtain an accurate visual representation of the HIV prevalence at a regional level. Conclusions: These results can help in identification and targeting of high-prevalent regions to increase the supply of healthcare services to reduce the spread of the disease and increase the health quality of people living with HIV.

The Annual costs of treating genital warts in the Public Healthcare Sector in Peru.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the cost of six different techniques used to treat Genital Warts and the annual average cost of treating a typical GW patient in Peru. To estimate the annual economic burden diagnosing and treating GW in the Peruvian public healthcare system. METHODS: We developed a prevalence-based, cost-of-illness study from the provider's perspective, the healthcare facilities under the purview of Peruvian Ministry of Health. We used an activity-based costing approach. We conducted primary data collection in three regions in Peru and supplemented it with governmental data. Uncertainty of the costing estimates was assessed via Monte Carlo simulations. We estimated the average cost and associated confidence intervals for six treatment options - three topical and three surgical - and the overall cost per patient. RESULTS: The average treatment cost per patient was 59.9USD (95 %CI 45.5, 77.6). Given a population of 18.4 million adults between 18 and 60 years of age and a GW prevalence of 2.28 %, the annual cost of treating GW was 25.1 million USD (uncertainty interval 16.9, 36.6). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first quantification of the economic burden of treating genital warts in Peru and one of the few in Latin America. The costing data did not include other healthcare providers or out-of-pocket expenditures, and hence we present a conservative estimate of the COI of GW in Peru. Our findings bring attention to the financial burden of treating GW, a vaccine-preventable disease.

The Impact of Rubella Vaccine Introduction on Rubella Infection and Congenital Rubella Syndrome: A Systematic Review of Mathematical Modelling Studies.

INTRODUCTION: Rubella vaccines have been used to prevent rubella and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) in several World Health Organization (WHO) regions. Mathematical modelling studies have simulated introduction of rubella-containing vaccines (RCVs), and their results have been used to inform rubella introduction strategies in several countries. This systematic review aimed to synthesize the evidence from mathematical models regarding the impact of introducing RCVs. METHODS: We registered the review in the international prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) with registration number CRD42020192638. Systematic review methods for classical epidemiological studies and reporting guidelines were followed as far as possible. A comprehensive search strategy was used to identify published and unpublished studies with no language restrictions. We included deterministic and stochastic models that simulated RCV introduction into the public sector vaccination schedule, with a time horizon of at least five years. Models focused only on estimating epidemiological parameters were excluded. Outcomes of interest were time to rubella and CRS elimination, trends in incidence of rubella and CRS, number of vaccinated individuals per CRS case averted, and cost-effectiveness of vaccine introduction strategies. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using a modified risk of bias tool, and a qualitative narrative was provided, given that data synthesis was not feasible. RESULTS: Seven studies were included from a total of 1393 records retrieved. The methodological quality was scored high for six studies and very high for one study. Quantitative data synthesis was not possible, because only one study reported point estimates and uncertainty intervals for the outcomes. All seven included studies presented trends in rubella incidence, six studies reported trends in CRS incidence, two studies reported the number vaccinated individuals per CRS case averted, and two studies reported an economic evaluation measure. Time to CRS elimination and time to rubella elimination were not reported by any of the included studies. Reported trends in CRS incidence showed elimination within five years of RCV introduction with scenarios involving mass vaccination of older children in addition to routine infant vaccination. CRS incidence was higher with RCV introduction than without RCV when public vaccine coverage was lower than 50% or only private sector vaccination was implemented. Although vaccination of children at a given age achieved slower declines in CRS incidence compared to mass campaigns targeting a wide age range, this approach resulted in the lowest number of vaccinated individuals per CRS case averted. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: We were unable to conduct data synthesis of included studies due to discrepancies in outcome reporting. However, qualitative assessment of results of individual studies suggests that vaccination of infants should be combined with vaccination of older children to achieve rapid elimination of CRS. Better outcomes are obtained when rubella vaccination is introduced into public vaccination schedules at coverage figures of 80%, as recommended by WHO, or higher. Guidelines for reporting of outcomes in mathematical modelling studies and the conduct of systematic reviews of mathematical modelling studies are required.

Household socioeconomic status modifies the association between neighborhood SES and obesity in a nationally representative sample of first grade children in the United States.

Both low family socioeconomic status (SES) and low neighborhood SES have been associated with higher levels of childhood obesity. However, little is known about how these two factors operate together. The purpose of this study was to determine if the association between neighborhood SES and obesity varies across household SES. We used the first-grade round of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2011 (ECLS-K:2011). Household SES was defined based on income, education, and occupation. Neighborhood SES was defined by the percent of households living in poverty in the child's school district. Log-binomial regression models estimated the association between neighborhood SES and obesity and tested whether this association varied by household SES. We found the association between neighborhood SES and obesity varied significantly by household SES (p-interaction = 0.002). For children in the lowest tertile of neighborhood SES, prevalence of obesity was not statistically significantly different comparing children with low, middle or high household SES (Predicted probability (PP)lowest 0.20 (95% CI: 0.17, 0.23), PPmiddle 0.21 (95%CI: 0.18, 0.24), PPhighest 0.16 (95%CI: 0.12, 0.20)). Conversely, within the highest and the middle tertiles of neighborhood SES, children with high household SES have significantly lower prevalence of obesity compared to children with the lowest household SES (PP: 0.09 (95%CI: 0.07, 0.11) vs 0.19 (0.16, 0.21) and (PP: 0.07 (95%CI: 0.05, 0.09) vs 0.17 (0.13, 0.21) for highest vs lowest household SES in middle and high neighborhood SES, respectively). Hence, low-SES in either variable is enough to be associated with increased prevalence of obesity.

Effectiveness of adherence to a renal health program in a health network in Peru.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of adherence to a multidisciplinary renal health program in reducing mortality and progression to hemodialysis. METHODS We used a database that included patient monitoring (2013-2017), dialysis admissions and all cause of mortality in Peru. Adherence to the program was established by meeting minimum visits during the first year of monitoring. The outcome of interest was hemodialysis admissions or all cause-mortality. Kaplan-Meier curves, Log-Rank test and competing survival analysis methods were used to estimate the differential risk between adherent and non-adherent patients. RESULTS A total of 20,354 participants was evaluated; 54.1% were male, 72.1 years old in average, 2.2 years average follow-up, and 15,279 (75.1%) belonged to the early stages (1 to 3a) of Chronic Kidney Disease. Adherence decreased the risk of renal replacement therapy in 41.0% (HR = 0.59, 95%CI 0.41-0.85) in the low-risk group and mortality in the high-risk group was 31.0% (HR = 0.69, 95%CI 0.57-0.83). CONCLUSIONS The multidisciplinary care strategy with standardized assessments by stage is effective in reducing admission to .0when the patient is identified in early stages and in reducing mortality in advanced stages.

Effectiveness of adherence to a renal health program in a health network in Peru / Efectividad de la adherencia a un programa de salud renal en una red sanitaria de Perú

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of adherence to a multidisciplinary renal health program in reducing mortality and progression to hemodialysis. METHODS We used a database that included patient monitoring (2013-2017), dialysis admissions and all cause of mortality in Peru. Adherence to the program was established by meeting minimum visits during the first year of monitoring. The outcome of interest was hemodialysis admissions or all cause-mortality. Kaplan-Meier curves, Log-Rank test and competing survival analysis methods were used to estimate the differential risk between adherent and non-adherent patients. RESULTS A total of 20,354 participants was evaluated; 54.1% were male, 72.1 years old in average, 2.2 years average follow-up, and 15,279 (75.1%) belonged to the early stages (1 to 3a) of Chronic Kidney Disease. Adherence decreased the risk of renal replacement therapy in 41.0% (HR = 0.59, 95%CI 0.41-0.85) in the low-risk group and mortality in the high-risk group was 31.0% (HR = 0.69, 95%CI 0.57-0.83). CONCLUSIONS The multidisciplinary care strategy with standardized assessments by stage is effective in reducing admission to .0when the patient is identified in early stages and in reducing mortality in advanced stages.

RESUMEN OBJETIVO Evaluar la efectividad de la adherencia a un programa de salud renal en la reducción de mortalidad y progresión a hemodiálisis. MÉTODOS Utilizamos una base de datos que condensaba el seguimiento de los pacientes (2013-2017), los ingresos a diálisis de los mismos y la mortalidad por todas las causas en Perú. La adherencia al programa se estableció con el cumplimiento de visitas mínimas durante su primer año de seguimiento. La efectividad de la adherencia al programa se midió en términos de debut a hemodiálisis o muerte por todas las causas. Se utilizaron curvas de Kaplan-Meier, test de diferencias en la distribución (Log-Rank test) y métodos de análisis de supervivencia. Los análisis se realizaron utilizando R estudio 3.5.0 RESULTADOS Fueron evaluados 20.354 participantes, 54,1% varones, edad media de 72,1 años, con un seguimiento medio de 2,2 años; 15.279 (75.1%) tuvieron ERC en estadios tempranos (estadio 1 al 3a). La adherencia disminuyó en un 41,0% el riesgo de terapia de reemplazo renal (HR = 0,59; IC95% 0,41-0,85) en el grupo de bajo riesgo y en un 31,0% (HR = 0,69; IC95% 0,57-0,83) la mortalidad en el grupo de alto riesgo. CONCLUSIONES La estrategia de cuidado multidisciplinario con evaluaciones estandarizadas según estadio es efectiva en reducir el ingreso a terapia de reemplazo renal cuando se identifica al paciente en estadios tempranos y en reducir la mortalidad en estadios avanzados.

Point-of-Care Testing for Anemia, Diabetes, and Hypertension: A Pharmacy-Based Model in Lima, Peru.

BACKGROUND: Prevention and control of chronic diseases is a high priority for many low- and middle-income countries. This study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of training pharmacy workers to provide point-of-care testing for 3 chronic diseases-hypertension, diabetes, and anemia-to improve disease detection and awareness through private pharmacies. METHODS: We developed a multiphase training curriculum for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to build capacity for identification of risk factors, patient education, point-of-care testing, and referral for abnormal results. We conducted a pre-post evaluation with participants and evaluated results using Student t test for proportions. We conducted point-of-care testing with pharmacy clients and evaluated acceptability by patient characteristics (age, gender, and type of patient) using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: In total, 72 pharmacy workers (66%) completed the full training curriculum. Pretest scores indicated that pharmacists had more knowledge and skills in chronic disease risk factors, patient education, and testing than pharmacy technicians. All participants improved their knowledge and skills after the training, and post-test scores indicated that pharmacy technicians achieved the same level of competency as pharmacists (P < .01). Additionally, 698 clients received at least 1 test during the study; 53% completed the acceptability survey. Nearly 100% thought the pharmacy could provide faster results, faster and better attention, and better access to basic screening for hypertension, diabetes, and anemia than a traditional health center. Fast service was very important: 41% ranked faster results and 30% ranked faster attention as the most important factor for receiving diagnostic testing in the pharmacy. DISCUSSION: We found that it is both feasible for pharmacies and acceptable to clients to train pharmacy workers to provide point-of-care testing for anemia, diabetes, and hypertension. This innovative approach holds potential to increase early detection of risk factors and bolster disease prevention and management efforts in Peru and other low- and middle-income settings.

Understanding Perceptions of Climate Change, Priorities, and Decision-Making among Municipalities in Lima, Peru to Better Inform Adaptation and Mitigation Planning.

Climate change poses multiple risks to the population of Lima, the largest city and capital of Peru, located on the Pacific coast in a desert ecosystem. These risks include increased water scarcity, increased heat, and the introduction and emergence of vector-borne and other climate sensitive diseases. To respond to these threats, it is necessary for the government, at every level, to adopt more mitigation and adaptation strategies. Here, focus groups were conducted with representatives from five Lima municipalities to determine priorities, perception of climate change, and decision-making processes for implementing projects within each municipality. These factors can affect the ability and desire of a community to implement climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. The results show that climate change and other environmental factors are of relatively low priority, whereas public safety and water and sanitation services are of highest concern. Perhaps most importantly, climate change is not well understood among the municipalities. Participants had trouble distinguishing climate change from other environmental issues and did not fully understand its causes and effects. Greater understanding of what climate change is and why it is important is necessary for it to become a priority for the municipalities. Different aspects of increased climate change awareness seem to be connected to having experienced extreme weather events, whether related or not to climate change, and to higher socioeconomic status.