Background:The purpose of this study was to determine the cross-sectional association between some sociodemographic factors and antiretroviral therapy (ART), as well as the incidence and predictors of type 2 diabetes mellitus among Central Africans with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease.Methods:This study had a cross-sectional design and was a prospective analysis of 102 patients with HIV disease (49 on ART versus 53 not on ART) in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, between 2004 and 2008. A Cox regression model was used to assess for any relationship between type 2 diabetes and exposure to combination ART without protease inhibitors, after adjusting for known risk factors for type 2 diabetes, nadir CD4 and CD8 levels, viral load, marital status, and religion.Results:Unexpectedly elevated rates of smoking, excess alcohol intake, and ART-related total, abdominal, and peripheral obesity were observed in our study group of HIV patients. At the end of follow-up, five patients were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (incidence rate 4.9%, 9.8 per 1000 person-years). Univariate risk factors for type 2 diabetes were male gender (relative risk [RR] 1.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01–1.4; P = 0.019), traditional religion versus new charismatic religion (RR 1.1, 95% CI 1.01–1.3; P = 0.046), exposure to ART (RR 1.1, 95% CI 1.002–1.3; P = 0.034), and single status (RR 6.2, 95% CI 1.5–15; P = 0.047). In multivariate analysis, strong significant independent predictors of type 2 diabetes were belonging to a traditional religion (HR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1–4.2; P = 0.036) and a relative increase in nadir CD4 cell count (beta coefficient 0.003; P < 0.0001).Conclusion:ART-related obesity and type 2 diabetes are becoming increasing problems in Central Africans with HIV disease. A relative increase in nadir CD4 count and traditional religion status appear to be the strongest independent predictors of type 2 diabetes.

Introduction ART expansion and viral load as a treatment monitoring approach have increased the demand for viral load testing. Many hurdles affect the coverage, quality and use of viral load results. Estimates of viral load monitoring and viral suppression rates are needed to assess the performance of ART programs and improve HIV management outcomes. Methods PLHIV viral load monitoring data were routinely collected in 84 health facilities in Kinshasa, DRC, between 2013 and 2020. The number of PLHIV under ART, the number of participants with at least one viral load test result, the rate of viral suppression (defined as ≤1,000 HIV RNA copies per mL), and the mean turnaround time from sample collection to release of viral load test results were collected together with clinical data. Results 14,057 PLHIV were included in the analysis. PLHIV were mainly enrolled after the “test and treat” implementation. The patients were followed for a median period of 27 months. The proportion of PLHIV with at least one available viral load largely increased in recent years. The delay from sample collection to release of viral load test results decreased overtime, from 35 days in 2018 to 16 days in 2020. Pregnancy and advanced HIV disease were associated with a lower chance of viral suppression. Conclusions There has been considerable success in increasing viral load access for all PLHIV under therapy in DRC. Nevertheless, viral load testing should be intensified with a particular effort to be made in groups at higher risk of viral failure.

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