Challenges of antiretroviral treatment monitoring in rural and remote-access regions in Africa

摘要

Editor: The 2013 United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNIAIDS) Report on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic highlighted significant progress toward the elimination of HIV infection. Key achievements included a major decline in HIV-related deaths over the past 20 years, an almost 35% decline in the number of new infections between 2000 and 2012, and an important increase in the availability of anti-retro viral treatment (ART), with more than 50% of the people in need of treatment receiving it.1 While acknowledging this progress, it is also very important to emphasize the fact that in 2012, about 1.6 million people died of HIV-related causes,1 and the current global achievements are not uniform across countries, in level of programs in countries (e.g., urban and rural), and in population groups, including newborns.