title: Building Capacity for Data-Driven Decision Making in African HIV Testing Programs: Field Perspectives on Data Use Workshops.
abstract: Strategic, high quality HIV testing services (HTS) delivery is an essential step towards reaching the end of AIDS by 2030. We conducted HTS Data Use workshops in five African countries to increase data use for strategic program decision-making. Feedback was collected on the extent to which workshop skills and tools were applied in practice and to identify future capacity-building needs. We later conducted six semistructured phone interviews with workshop planning teams and sent a web-based survey to 92 past participants. The HTS Data Use workshops provided accessible tools that were readily learned by most respondents. While most respondents reported increased confidence in interpreting data and frequency of using such tools over time, planning team representatives indicated ongoing needs for more automated tools that can function across data systems. To achieve ambitious global HIV/AIDS targets, national decision makers may continue to seek tools and skill-building opportunities to monitor programs and identify opportunities to refine strategies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Global HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Cari
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Courtenay-Quirk
authors.affiliation: Global Health Sciences, University of California San Francisco.
authors.forename: Hilary
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Spindler
authors.affiliation: Global Health Sciences, University of California San Francisco.
authors.forename: Aimee
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leidich
authors.affiliation: Division of Global HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Pam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bachanas
mesh_terms: D057191:Capacity Building; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003657:Decision Making; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires