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Operational research and HIV policy and guidelines: Lessons from a study of patients lost to follow-up from a public antiretroviral treatment program in Cameroon

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Abstract

Can operations and implementation research guide today's unprecedented efforts to scale-up HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support in resource-limited settings? Our study of patients with HIV/AIDS who were first seen at the Central Hospital (Yaoundé, Cameroon) to begin antiretroviral therapy demonstrates the value of using operations research to explore programs, policies, and guidelines used in health care. We studied one group of patients, those lost to follow-up. Our findings confirmed the value of early treatment, systems to follow individuals, free treatment, and resources that enable operations research. We encourage health-care workers and program managers to perform operational research in their own context, and we emphasize the importance of allocating adequate human, financial, and logistic resources for this activity. Finally, we stress that the health-care workers, program managers, and researchers must work together to better inform policy and guidelines.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all patients and staff of the Central Hospital (Yaoundé, Cameroon) who participated in the study. The study was supported by a grant from Ensemble pour une Solidarité Thérapeutique Hospitalière En Réseau (ESTHER; Paris, France). Jean-Marc Mben was the recipient of a master's fellowship from the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS; Paris, France), and Jules Brice Tchatchueng Mbougua was the recipient of a doctoral fellowship from the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD, France).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Jean-Marc Mben, Charles Kouanfack, Claudine Ntsama Essomba, Alain Kenfack, Clément Auguste Djouatsa Tonfack & Magloire Biwolé-Sida

  2. National Advanced School of Engineering, University Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Jules Brice Tchatchueng Mbougua

  3. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (UMI 233), 911 avenue Agropolis, BP 64501, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Jules Brice Tchatchueng Mbougua, Anke Bourgeois, Eric Delaporte & Christian Laurent

  4. French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Gabrièle Laborde-Balen

  5. Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, University Hospital, Montpellier, France

    Anke Bourgeois & Eric Delaporte

  6. Ministry of Public Health, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Magloire Biwolé-Sida

Authors
  1. Jean-Marc Mben
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  2. Charles Kouanfack
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  3. Claudine Ntsama Essomba
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  4. Jules Brice Tchatchueng Mbougua
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  5. Alain Kenfack
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  6. Clément Auguste Djouatsa Tonfack
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  7. Gabrièle Laborde-Balen
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  8. Anke Bourgeois
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  9. Magloire Biwolé-Sida
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  10. Eric Delaporte
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  11. Christian Laurent
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christian Laurent.

Additional information

This study in Cameroon of patients lost to ARV treatment demonstrates the value of early treatment and of using operations research to explore programs, policies, and guidelines used in health care.

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Mben, JM., Kouanfack, C., Essomba, C. et al. Operational research and HIV policy and guidelines: Lessons from a study of patients lost to follow-up from a public antiretroviral treatment program in Cameroon. J Public Health Pol 33, 462–477 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2012.31

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