Implementation of a standardized HIV patient monitoring system in Guyana Establecimiento de un sistema estandarizado de vigilancia de los pacientes infectados por el VIH en Guyana

• Main Authors: Mina Halpern, Bendita Lachmansingh, Thomas Minior, La Mar Hasbrouck, Nicholas Persaud, Astrid Foo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2010
• Subjects: VIH; síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida; monitoreo; sistemas de salud; organización y administración; Guyana; HIV; acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; monitoring; health systems; organization and administration; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/bd7a02d4dfe3433ca1324e3a218af2ba

OBJECTIVE: To describe the process used to implement a comprehensive, standardized, and reliable national system for data collection for HIV care and treatment in Guyana; to provide examples of the program-level data resulting from implementation; and to highlight the monitoring benefits for national programs. METHODS: In 2007, Guyana's Ministry of Health and other key stakeholders adapted the World Health Organization's generic HIV care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) patient monitoring guidelines to fit the Guyana context, which included modifying the patient chart, patient registers, and cross-sectional and cohort reports. Following initial training and feedback from clinical staff, a national patient monitoring system (PMS) was finalized, piloted, and implemented at all care and treatment sites. Thereafter, sites received monthly supportive supervisory visits to review data collection and validate reports. RESULTS: Implementation of the PMS enabled analysis of cohort data for patients on ART. After 12 months, 79% of a combined national cohort of all 50 patients who started ART in June 2007 were alive and on first-line ART regimens. After six years, 58% of the first (April 2002) cohort of ART patients in the country were alive and on ART, with only two (8%) patients on second-line regimens. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a national PMS for standardized data collection and reporting across multiple clinical sites ultimately provided important and reliable information on utilization of services, patient outcomes, and survival rates on treatment. These data are used at the national level to monitor the efficacy of the HIV care and treatment program. Successful implementation requires early inclusion of all committed stakeholders and a dedicated human resource team to ensure sustainability of the system. OBJETIVO: Describir el proceso utilizado con el objeto de poner en práctica un sistema nacional integral, estandarizado y confiable de recopilación de datos sobre la atención y el tratamiento de la infección por ...