Society
HIV/AIDS Treatment: Tracking 'Lost to Follow-up' Patients in Madagascar
Activities carried out in the Boeny region. Ensuring continuity of care for each person living with HIV undergoing antiretroviral treatment is now an absolute priority for actors working in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Facing the major challenge posed by treatment interruptions, the Ministry of Public Health is stepping up efforts. Since August 10, a vast strategy for tracking and locating 'lost to follow-up' patients has been officially deployed in the Boeny region. This high-priority field mission brings together key synergies of public health actors. A joint delegation composed of the General Directorate of Preventive Medicine (DGMP), the Directorate for the Fight Against Transmissible Diseases (DLMT), the National Program for the Fight Against STIs and HIV (PNLIS), as well as PSI, traveled to the region to lead this health offensive. Activities At the heart of the initiative, Dr Andrianina Désiré Rakotoarimino, Director General of Preventive Medicine, led strategic consultations with the Regional Directorate of Public Health of Boeny and the implementation team. The central objective of these discussions lies in strengthening operational guidelines aimed at locating, remobilizing and reintegrating into the care pathway people who have abandoned their ARV treatment, a crucial issue to prevent drug resistance and slow virus transmission. Evaluation and tracing operations extend across several strategic health facilities in the city, notably CSI Mahabibo, CSB II Tanambao Sotema, CHU PZAGA Androva, and SALFA Antanimalandy center. Through this general remobilization, health authorities and their partners reaffirm their unwavering commitment to inclusive public health where no patient should be left behind. This initiative will continue in other regions of the country.
Source: Midi Madagasikara