Strategic site selection for placement of HIV early infant diagnosis point-of-care technology within a national diagnostic network in Lesotho
African Journal of Laboratory Medicine
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Strategic site selection for placement of HIV early infant diagnosis point-of-care technology within a national diagnostic network in Lesotho | |
| Creator | Mataka, Anafi Tumbare, Esther A.J. Motsoane, Tsietso Holtzman, David Leqheka, Monkoe Phatsoane, Kolisang Sacks, Emma Isavwa, Anthony Tiam, Appolinaire | |
| Description | Background: New technologies for rapid point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tests hold great potential for improving the health outcomes of HIV-exposed infants. POC testing for HIV early infant diagnosis (EID) was introduced in Lesotho in late 2016. Here we highlight critical requirements for selecting routine POC EID sites to ensure a sustainable and optimised EID diagnostic network.Intervention: Lesotho introduced POC EID in a phased approach that included assessments of national databases to identify sites with high test volumes, the creation of local networks of sites to potentially increase access to POC EID, and a standardised capacity assessment to determine site readiness. Potential site networks comprising ‘hub’ testing sites and ‘spoke’ specimen referring sites were created.Lessons learnt: After determining optimal placement, a total of 29 testing facilities were selected for placement of POC EID to potentially increase access to 189 facilities through the use of a hub-and-spoke model. Site capacity assessments identified vital human resources and infrastructure capacity gaps that needed to be addressed before introducing POC EID and informed appropriate POC platform selection.Recommendations: POC placement involves more than just purchasing the testing platforms. Considering the relatively small proportion of sites that can be eligible for placement of a POC platform, utilising a hub-and-spoke model can maximise the number of health facilities served by a POC platform while reducing the necessary capacity building and infrastructure investments to fewer sites. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2021-08-24 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/ajlm.v10i1.1156 | |
| Source | African Journal of Laboratory Medicine; Vol 10, No 1 (2021); 6 pages 2225-2010 2225-2002 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/1156/2027
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/1156/2028
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/1156/2029
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/1156/2030
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