Revista de SIDA e investigación clínica

Approaches to Address NCD among PLHIV in Low and Middle Income Counties

Abstract

Ruchi Sogarwal and Sunil Mehra

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) are now the major chronic diseases of public health concern, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This joint burden has major adverse effects on the quality of life of an affected individual; causes premature death; creates adverse economic effects on families in general. The purpose of this paper is to highlight extent of the problem and various approaches that can address the threat posed by NCD among people living with HIV based on evidence and best practices in health interventions. The paper is based on the non-systematic review of policies, programs, health interventions and published research articles. In addition, recommendations of expert consultations and workshops organized in various countries were also reviewed. Review indicates that there are emerging developments to bridge the gap between the NCD and HIV, however, no focused strategy is available to address NCD in PLHIV. Some of the key suggested approaches are; build evidence for planning and management of NCD in PLHIV, increase allocation of financial resources for investigation and treatment of common NCDs in PLHIV, strengthening governance structure for improved efficiency and effectiveness of systems to address NCD in HIV and non-HIV services, reconfiguration of primary health care, routine screening of PLHIV for NCD and promoting healthy lifestyle to reduce PLHIV’s susceptibility to NCD, multi-/ inter-sectoral cooperation, public private partnership and community participation for sustained efforts. Although context-specific factors vary from place to place, the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of different approaches tackling NCD in PLHIV is needed.