The Community ART Group model was initiated by patients to improve access, patient retention, and decongest health services. Early outcomes are highly satisfactory in terms of mortality and retention in care, lending support to such out-of-clinic approaches.

Abstractobjective Community ART groups (CAG), peer support groups involved in community ART distribution and mutual psychosocial support, were piloted to respond to staggering antiretroviral treatment (ART) attrition in Mozambique. To understand the impact of CAG on long-term retention, we estimated mortality and lost-to-follow-up (LTFU) rates and assessed predictors for attrition.methods Retrospective cohort study. Kaplan-Meier techniques were used to estimate mortality and LTFU in CAG. Individual-and CAG-level predictors of attrition were assessed using a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model, adjusted for site-level clustering.results Mortality and LTFU rates among 5729 CAG members were, respectively, 2.1 and 0.1 per 100 person-years. Retention was 97.7% at 12 months, 96.0% at 24 months, 93.4% at 36 months and 91.8% at 48 months. At individual level, attrition in CAG was significantly associated with immunosuppression when joining a CAG, and being male. At CAG level, attrition was associated with lack of rotational representation at the clinic, lack of a regular CD4 count among fellow members and linkage to a rural or district clinic compared with linkage to a peri-urban clinic.conclusions Long-term retention in this community-based ART model compares favourably with published data on stable ART patients. Nevertheless, to reduce attrition, further efforts need to be made to enrol patients earlier on ART, promote health-seeking behaviour, especially for men, promote a strong peer dynamic to assure rotational representation at the clinic and regular CD4 follow-up and reinforce referral of sick patients.

ObjectivesEstimate the effect of participation in Community ART Groups (CAG) versus individual care on retention-in-care (RIC) on antiretroviral therapy (ART).DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingHigh levels of attrition (death or loss-to-follow-up (LTFU) combined) on ART indicate that delivery models need to adapt in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2008, patients more than 6 months on ART began forming CAG, and took turns to collect ART refills at the health facility, in Tete Province, Mozambique,.Participants2406 adult patients, retained in care for at least 6 months after starting ART, during the study period (date of CAG introduction at the health facility—30 April 2012).MethodsData up to 30 April 2012 were collected from patient records at eight health facilities. Survival analysis was used to compare RIC among patients in CAG and patients in individual care, with joining a CAG treated as an irreversible time-dependent variable. Multivariable Cox regression was used to estimate the effect of CAG on RIC, adjusted for age, sex and health facility type and stratified by calendar cohort.Results12-month and 24-monthRIC from the time of eligibility were, respectively, 89.5% and 82.3% among patients in individual care and 99.1% and 97.5% among those in CAGs (p<0.0001). CAG members had a greater than fivefold reduction in risk of dying or being LTFU (adjusted HR: 0.18, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.29).ConclusionsAmong patients on ART, RIC was substantially better among those in CAGs than those in individual care. This study confirms that patient-driven ART distribution through CAGs results in higher RIC among patients who are stable on ART.

Mozambique continues to face many challenges in HIV and maternal and child health care (MCH). Community-based antiretroviral treatment groups (CAG) enhance retention to care among members, but whether such benefits extend to their families and to MCH remains unclear. In 2011 we studied utilization of HIV and MCH services among CAG members and their family aggregates in Changara, Mozambique, through a mixed-method assessment. We systematically revised all patient-held health cards from CAG members and their non-CAG family aggregate members and conducted semistructured group discussions on MCH topics. Quantitative data were analysed in EPI-Info. Qualitative data were manually thematically analysed. Information was retrieved from 1,624 persons, of which 420 were CAG members (26%). Good compliance with HIV treatment among CAG members was shared with non-CAG HIV-positive family members on treatment, but many family aggregate members remained without testing, and, when HIV positive, without HIV treatment. No positive effects from the CAG model were found for MCH service utilization. Barriers for utilization mentioned centred on insufficient knowledge, limited community-health facility collaboration, and structural health system limitations. CAG members were open to include MCH in their groups, offering the possibility to extend patient involvement to other health needs. We recommend that lessons learnt from HIV-based activism, patient involvement, and community participation are applied to broader SRH services, including MCH care.