BackgroundHIV drug resistance (HIVDR) testing is not routinely available in many resource-limited settings, therefore antiretroviral therapy (ART) program and site factors known to be associated with emergence of HIVDR should be monitored to optimize the quality of patient care and minimize the emergence of preventable HIVDR.MethodsIn 2010, Namibia selected five World Health Organization Early Warning Indicators (EWIs) and scaled-up monitoring from 9 to 33 ART sites: ART prescribing practices, Patients lost to follow-up (LTFU) at 12 months, Patients switched to a second-line regimen at 12 months, On-time antiretroviral (ARV) drug pick-up, and ARV drug-supply continuity.
ResultsRecords allowed reporting on three of the five selected EWIs. 22 of 33 (67%) sites met the target of 100% initiated on appropriate first-line regimens. 17 of 33 (52%) sites met the target of ≤20% LTFU. 15 of 33 (45%) sites met the target of 0% switched to a second-line regimen.ConclusionsEWI monitoring directly resulted in public health action which will optimize the quality of care, specifically the strengthening of ART record systems, engagement of ART sites, and operational research for improved adherence assessment and ART patient defaulter tracing.
Namibia is faced with low access levels to housing, a situation partly ascribed to costly building materials. As an open small economy which imports a significant share of its building materials requirements, the exchange rate remains key factor on the trend of end user prices. This paper analyzed bivariate relationships between the exchange rate and building material prices disaggregated in six categories of building materials namely: Brickwork materials; Roofing, doors & window materials; Plumbing materials; Electrical materials; Tilling & painting materials; and Total materials. The correlation coefficient results ranged from 0.4751 to 0.8990 with Tilling & Painting and brickwork materials having the lowest of all albeit generally still high correlation coefficient of 0.5 while Electrical and Plumbing materials have the highest correlation coefficients of 0.8990 and 0.7819 respectively. This paper interprets these results in line with composition of imports among these categories. Brickwork materials that have the lowest correlation coefficient alongside tilling and painting materials are predominantly produced locally while Electrical and plumbing materials with the highest correlation coefficients are predominantly imported
This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Author JMN designed the study, performed the literature search and together with author MS did the statistical analysis, author MS searched and did data cleaning and uploading in e-views. Author RO gave a conceptual framework and nested the study on it. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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