Predictors of loss to follow-up among children in the first and second years of antiretroviral treatment in Johannesburg, South Africa

Authors: Mazvita Sengayi; Ntabozuko Dwane; Edmore Marinda; Et.al.

Source: Glob Health Action 2013 (6) 169-180

Summary:

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 90% of the world’s 2.1 million HIV-infected children. Of all the people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, 10% are children (1). In South Africa at the end of 2009, 330,000 children were infected with HIV and the prevalence of HIV in children aged between 2 and 14 years was 2.5% (1.9_3.5%) (2, 3). The number of patients receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) at PEPFAR-supported government sites in South Africa increased nearly 20-fold in 5 years from 33,500 in 2005 to 632,000 in 2009 (4).