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Background HIV has emerged as one of the leading causes of childhood mortality and morbidity in sub Saharan Africa Antiretroviral therapy ART in children in Africa has resulted in dramatically improved survival However excellent adherence is one of the most important factors in determining treatment success and preventing viral resistance While studies of African adults showed that good adherence to ART is possible despite poor social circumstances there are limited data on ART adherence among African children and hence the need for the current study This study determined factors associated with adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy HAART among HIV infected children in Kano Nigeria Method A cross sectional study was conducted at the Special Treatment Clinic STC of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano Nigeria The study population comprised HIV infected children taking ARV medications which accessed care at the Clinic between June and August and met the eligibility criteria A list of all children who were on HAART and had a clinic appointment within the study period was generated From this list participants were randomly selected using a computer based random number generator Caregivers were interviewed at the clinic using a structured questionnaire Results A total of children males out of contacted whose caregivers provided consent were recruited into the study The median age of the study children was years IQR to years A total of children were adherent to the prescribed antiretroviral drugs for the days preceding the interview Non adherence was found to be significantly associated with caregiver rsquo s report of missing at least one clinic appointment in the last six months p value and children on second line HAART regimen p value However children whose caregivers were older than years p value were more likely to be adherent than their respective counterparts Conclusion Adherence to HAART in children in Kano Nigeria was similar to reported adherence levels from other sub Saharan African countries Keeping clinic appointments was strong predictor of good adherence to HAART

Background Multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), is an emerging public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study aims to determine the trends in prevalence of MDR-TB among new TB cases in sub-Saharan Africa over two decades. Methods We searched electronic data bases and accessed all prevalence studies of MDR-TB within SSA between 2007 and 2017. We determined pooled prevalence estimates using random effects models and determined trends using meta-regression. Results Results: We identified 915 studies satisfying inclusion criteria. Cumulatively, studies reported on MDR-TB culture of 34,652 persons. The pooled prevalence of MDR-TB in new cases was 2.1% (95% CI; 1.7-2.5%). There was a non-significant decline in prevalence by 0.12% per year. Conclusion We found a low prevalence estimate of MDR-TB, and a slight temporal decline over the study period. There is a need for continuous MDR-TB surveillance among patients with TB.