Costs of Point-of-Care Viral Load Testing for Adults and Children Living with HIV in Kenya.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in need of treatment monitoring in low-and-middle-income countries is rapidly expanding, straining existing laboratory capacity. Point-of-care viral load (POC VL) testing can alleviate the burden on centralized laboratories and enable faster delivery of results, improving clinical outcomes. However, implementation costs are uncertain and will depend on clinic testing volume. We sought to estimate the costs of decentralized POC VL testing compared to centralized laboratory testing for adults and children receiving HIV care in Kenya.

Methods

We conducted microcosting to estimate the per-patient costs of POC VL testing compared to known costs of centralized laboratory testing. We completed time-and-motion observations and

SUBMITTER: Bulterys MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7832863 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature