ReviewThe Lancet. Infectious diseases2017
Early antiretroviral therapy initiation: access and equity of viral load testing for HIV treatment monitoring.
Review in The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Point-of-care viral load tests to detect high HIV viral load in people living with HIV/AIDS attending health facilities.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Acceptability of point-of-care viral load testing to facilitate differentiated care: a qualitative assessment of people living with HIV and nurses in South Africa.BMC health services research · 2020Trial
- Trial
- ViraLite: an ultracompact HIV viral load self-testing system with internal quality control.Microsystems & nanoengineering · 2026Article
- Feasibility and acceptability of task sharing collection of HIV viral load dried blood spot samples with community lay cadres: A cross-sectional diagnostic validation study in Zimbabwe.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- ViraLite: An Ultracompact HIV Viral Load Self-Testing System with Internal Quality Control.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- HIV-1 Genetic Diversity and Transmitted Drug Resistance Mutations in ART-Naïve Individuals in South Korea from 2021 to 2024.Viruses · 2025Article
- Long-term HIV care outcomes under universal HIV treatment guidelines: A retrospective cohort study in 25 countries.PLoS medicine · 2024Article
- CRISPR gel: A one-pot biosensing platform for rapid and sensitive detection of HIV viral RNA.Analytica chimica acta · 2023Article
- Genetic characterization of HIV-1 viruses among cases with antiretroviral therapy failure in Suzhou City, China.AIDS research and therapy · 2023Article
- Assessment of HIV viral load monitoring in remote settings in Vietnam - comparing people who inject drugs to the other patients.PloS one · 2023Article
- A Multilevel Integrated Intervention to Reduce the Impact of HIV Stigma on HIV Treatment Outcomes Among Adolescents Living With HIV in Uganda: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
- Virological failure and treatment switch after ART initiation among people living with HIV with and without routine viral load monitoring in Asia.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2022Article
- A Semi-Quantitative Isothermal Diagnostic Assay Utilizing Competitive Amplification.Analytical chemistry · 2021Article
- CRISPR-Based Electrochemical Sensor Permits Sensitive and Specific Viral Detection in Low-Resource Settings.ACS central science · 2021Article
- Risk Factors for TB/HIV Coinfection and Consequences for Patient Outcomes: Evidence from 241 Clinics in the Democratic Republic of Congo.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Possible role of plasma Galectin-9 levels as a surrogate marker of viremia in HIV infected patients on antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings.AIDS research and therapy · 2020Article
- High viral suppression and low attrition in healthy HIV-infected patients initiated on ART with CD4 above 500 cells/µL in a program setting in Uganda.African health sciences · 2020Article
- HIV Care continuum Outcomes: Can Ethiopia Meet the UNAIDS 90-90-90 Targets?Ethiopian journal of health sciences · 2020Article
- Experiences and perceptions of youth living with HIV in Western Uganda on school attendance: barriers and facilitators.BMC public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Scaling up access to HIV viral load testing for individuals undergoing antiretroviral therapy in low-resource settings is a global health priority, as emphasised by research showing the benefits of suppressed viral load for the individual and the whole population. Historically, large-scale diagnostic test implementation has been slow and incomplete because of service delivery and other challenges. Building on lessons from the past, in this Personal View we propose a new framework to accelerate viral load scale-up and ensure equitable access to this essential test. The framework includes the following steps: (1) ensuring adequate financial investment in scaling up this test; (2) achieving pricing agreements and consolidating procurement to lower prices of the test; (3) strengthening functional tiered laboratory networks and systems to expand access to reliable, high-quality testing across countries; (4) strengthening national leadership, with prioritisation of laboratory services; and (5) demand creation and uptake of test results by clinicians, nurses, and patients, which will be vital in ensuring viral load tests are appropriately used to improve the quality of care. The use of dried blood spots to stabilise and ship samples from clinics to laboratories, and the use of point-of-care diagnostic tests, will also be important for ensuring access, especially in settings with reduced laboratory capacity. For countries that have just started to scale up viral load testing, lessons can be learnt from countries such as Botswana, Brazil, South Africa, and Thailand, which have already established viral load programmes. This framework might be useful for guiding the implementation of viral load with the aim of achieving the new global HIV 90-90-90 goals by 2020.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.