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Background: Access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) has rapidly expanded; as of the end of 2010, an estimated 6.6 million people are receiving ART in low-income and middle-income countries. Few reports have focused on the experiences of rural health centers or the use of community health workers. We report clinical and programatic outcomes at 24 months for a cohort of patients enrolled in a community-based ART program in southeastern Rwanda under collaboration between Partners In Health and the Rwandan Ministry of Health., Methods and Findings: A retrospective medical record review was performed for a cohort of 1041 HIV+ adult patients initiating community-based ART between June 1, 2005, and April 30, 2006. Key programatic elements included free ART with direct observation by community health worker, tuberculosis screening and treatment, nutritional support, a transportation allowance, and social support. Among 1041 patients who initiated community-based ART, 961 (92.3%) were retained in care, 52 (5%) died and 28 (2.7%) were lost to follow-up. Median CD4 T-cell count increase was 336 cells per microliter [interquartile range: (IQR): 212-493] from median 190 cells per microliter (IQR: 116-270) at initiation., Conclusions: A program of intensive community-based treatment support for ART in rural Rwanda had excellent outcomes in 24-month retention in care. Having committed to improving access to HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa, the international community, including country HIV programs, should set high programmatic outcome benchmarks.

We found that comprehensive, integrated, community-based intervention (characterized by daily home visits from a community health worker, directly observed treatment, nutritional support, and transportation stipends) was associated with higher antiretroviral therapy retention at 1 year among adults in rural Rwanda.Background. Minimizing death and ensuring high retention and good adherence remain ongoing challenges for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment programs. We examined whether the addition of community-based accompaniment (characterized by daily home visits from a community health worker, directly observed treatment, nutritional support, transportation stipends, and other support as needed) to the Rwanda national model for antiretroviral therapy (ART) delivery would improve retention in care, viral load suppression, and change in CD4 count, relative to the national model alone.Methods. We conducted a prospective observational cohort study among 610 HIV-infected adults initiating ART in 1 of 2 programs in rural Rwanda. Psychosocial and clinical characteristics were recorded at ART initiation. Death, treatment retention, and plasma viral load were assessed at 1 year. CD4 count was evaluated at 6-month intervals. Multivariable regression models were used to adjust for baseline differences between the 2 populations.Results. Eighty-five percent and 79% of participants in the community-based and clinic-based programs, respectively, were retained with viral load suppression at 1 year. After adjusting for CD4 count, depression, physical health quality of life, and food insecurity, community-based accompaniment was protective against death or loss to follow-up during the first year of ART (hazard ratio, 0.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], .09–.35; P < .0001). In a second multivariable analysis, individuals receiving accompaniment were more likely to be retained with a suppressed viral load at 1 year (risk ratio: 1.15; 95% CI, 1.03–1.27; P = .01).Conclusions. These findings indicate that community-based accompaniment is effective in improving retention, when added to a clinic-based program with fewer patient support mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]