Bibliographic Info
GuidelineUpdated recommendations on service delivery for the treatment and care of people living with HIV
Year of Publication2021
Issuing InstitutionWHO
Recommendation
Status
Updated
Recommended in favor
Strong
Certainty of evidence
Low
People established on ART should be offered refills of ART lasting 3–6 months, preferably six months if feasible
Notes and Remarks
- 1.Reducing the frequency of drug dispensing requires adequate drug supply and the possibility for appropriate storage for clients, including for community ART delivery. Consideration should be given to harmonize and optimize scheduling while ensuring patient choice and linkage to other key services, including viral load and other laboratory investigations, and dispensation of medications for TB preventive treatment and chronic conditions. Less frequent visits and less frequent drug pick-up should be implemented across subpopulations to promote a familybased approach to HIV service delivery. However, extended refills should be considered only for children older than two years when the frequency of dose adjustments becomes less frequent (17), since younger children need to attend health services for routine services such as immunization. Additional models of community support may need to consider clinic visits for certain groups at greater risk of facing adherence challenges, such as adolescents, pregnant and postpartum women.