Browsing by Author "Wyk, Brian Van"

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    Desperate times call for desperate measures: Adapting antiretroviral service delivery in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
    (SAMA, 2020) Mukumbang, Ferdinand C.; Kriel, Ebrahim; Wyk, Brian Van
    On 23 March 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a nation-wide lockdown to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa (SA). While these containment measures are considered to have limited the spread of COVID-19 in SA, the economic and social consequences, including the impact on healthcare service delivery, are prominent. Regarding healthcare service delivery, there are concerns about people who could be at risk of experiencing severe COVID-19 infection, and about meeting the needs of people with chronic diseases such as people living with HIV (PLHIV). In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, PLHIV with an unsuppressed viral load may be at increased risk of developing severe COVID-19-related conditions and potentially dying, especially those who are co-infected with tuberculosis (TB).
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    Qualitative Assessment of the Utilisation of Tier.Net Health Information among facility and programme managers In Ekurhuleni district, Gauteng
    (University of the Western Cape, 2017) Skiti, Vuyiswa; Wyk, Brian Van
    The South African National Department of Health (NDOH) developed TIER.net - a three-tiered health information system to improve the quality of routine data collection and for the proactive information-driven management of the HIV/AIDS care and treatment programme. Current quarterly reports indicate inefficiencies in the national HIV/AIDS treatment programme, which point to high proportions of patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) lost to follow up, low proportions of patients with viral-load tests done, and numerous instances of drug and commodity stock-outs. This means that even though information generated from TIER.net is readily available to facility managers and programme coordinators in the HIV and AIDS/ Sexually Transmitted Infection/TB (HAST) programme, the information is not effectively used to inform programme planning, implementation and monitoring. The current study evaluated the use of information generated from the TIER.net information system among facility and programme managers in the Ekurhuleni District, Gauteng Province by considering technical, behavioural and organisational factors that influence use.
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    Retention in care for adolescents who were newly initiated on antiretroviral therapy in the Cape Metropole in South Africa
    (OpenJournals Publishing AOSIS (Pty) Ltd, 2020) Wyk, Brian Van; Kriel, Ebrahim; Mukumbang, Ferdinand C.
    Long-term retention of adolescents aged 10-19 years on antiretroviral therapy (ART) is crucial to achieve viral load suppression. However, it is reported globally that adolescents have lower retention in care (RiC) on ART, compared with children and adults. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and predictors of RiC of adolescents over 2 years following initiation onto ART in public health facilities in the Metropole District Health Services of the Western Cape province in 2013. Methods: Data of 220 adolescent patients who were newly initiated on ART in 2013 were extracted from the provincial electronic database, and subjected to univariate and bivariate analyses using SPSS. Results: The rate of RiC post-initiation was low throughout the study period, that is, 68.6%, 50.5% and 36.4% at 4, 12 and 24 months, respectively.