title: 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.
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.
authors.affiliation: Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon. jmmben@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mben
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kouanfack
authors.forename: Claudine Ntsama
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Essomba
authors.forename: Jules Brice Tchatchueng
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Mbougua
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kenfack
authors.forename: Clément Auguste Djouatsa
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Tonfack
authors.forename: Gabrièle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Laborde-Balen
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bourgeois
authors.forename: Magloire
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Biwolé-Sida
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delaporte
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laurent
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002163:Cameroon; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D006291:Health Policy; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D059012:Lost to Follow-Up; D008297:Male; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents