MUSCAT: The central public health laboratories in the Sultanate of Oman played key role during the coronavirus pandemic. His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik ordered the.
Uganda adapted Viral load (VL) testing for monitoring HIV treatment success and virologic failure. However, there is a paucity of data on how the VL testing guidelines are followed in practice in the HIV clinics. This study determined the adherence to national guidelines on VL testing, barriers, and associated factors in persons living with HIV (PLHIV) on ART in southwestern Uganda. We conducted a cross-sectional mixed methods study from April to May 2021 at four HIV clinics in southwestern Uganda. Patient chart review using a checklist that captured age, gender, and level of a healthcare facility, dates of ART initiation, dates VL specimens were drawn, line of ART, patient adherence to ART was done. Continuous data were summarized using mean and median and Chi-square was used for categorical data. We performed regression analysis to determine factors associated with adherence to viral load testing guidelines at a 95% level of significance. Key informant interviews with manag