ICIUM 2011
HIV/AIDS & TB

The ICIUM 2011 HIV/AIDS & TB track welcomes abstracts on global drug (access, donation, and other) programs, adherence, retention, supply chain management, pharmacovigilance and adverse event monitoring, as they relate to access to and use of HIV/AIDS therapies in resource-limited settings. TB-related topics of interest include: supply chain management issues concerning the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) and the Global Drug Facility (GDF); interventions to improve adherence including direct observation of treatment; drug management issues for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB); issues in quality assurance; and control of over the counter sale and use of drugs.

In each focus area of the conference, we will encourage the discussion of research on:

1 – GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ISSUES

This area will include the role and impact of global institutions on the improved used of ARV and TB medicines. In this session, we seek work on:

HIV/AIDS

  • Charting the future of global/international initiatives and support for ARV provision in resource-limited settings
  • ARV access and adherence, including macro-level barriers to access and adherence, as well as large-scale policy and programmatic interventions to support access and adherence
  • Impact of limited funding on treatment access and adherence, including ARV drug sharing
  • International cohort collaborations for long term monitoring of ARV safety and effectiveness in the developing countries
  • Use of toxicity data to inform treatment guidelines changes
  • Considerations regarding potential future implementation of biomedical approaches to HIV prevention, particularly the provision of ARVs as pre-exposure prophylaxis

TB

  • Scaling up of MDR-TB care & treatment
  • Limited manufacturing capacity for second line TB medicines, competitiveness in production, and problems of quality assurance
  • TB medicines: adherence monitoring, barriers to access
  • Role of GFATM in improving the use to TB medicines in countries
  • GDF support on TB medicines in countries
  • Green Light Committee (GLC) support on MDR-TB care and treatment in countries
  • Technical Assistance to improve the use of TB medicines in countries (TBTEAM)
  • Need for new TB drugs and issues related to their development

2 – NATIONAL SYSTEMS, PROGRAMS AND POLICIES

This area will address national programs and policies specifically related to ARV and TB medicines. In this session, we will discuss research on:

HIV/AIDS

  • Progress and challenges in strengthening health care systems for the provision of ARV treatment in resource-limited settings
  • Implementation of changing guidelines for earlier ARV treatment initiation
  • Selection of first-line regimens
  • Policies and approaches to increase treatment access and engagement in care
  • Implementation of national systems for monitoring ARV toxicities

TB

  • Progress and challenges in supply chain management in national TB programs (NTP) for the scaling up of TB care for both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB
  • Collaboration between NTP and national essential medicine programmes
  • Collaboration between NTP and national drug regulatory authorities
  • Role of national drug regulatory authorities in the improved use of TB medicines
  • Prequalification and registration of TB medicines in the countries
  • Introduction and role of public-private mix (PPM) models of supply management
  • Regulatory mechanisms on the sale of TB medicines in pharmacies: first-line TB medicines and second-line TB medicines

3 – HEALTH CARE AND FINANCING INSTITUTIONS

This area will focus on medicines policies and programs in national or local institutions that play a major role in the financing or delivery of ARV and TB medicines. In this session, we seek work on:

HIV/AIDS

  • Monitoring mechanisms for timely ARV initiation, ARV adherence, retention in ARV care, and mortality
  • Financing mechanisms to improve ARV access in a global economic crisis, including cost sharing, insurance strategies, and other financial strategies to augment international support
  • Innovative approaches for improving adverse event reporting and risk management strategies for preventing know risk of ARV medicines, and how adverse events affect adherence TB
  • TB medicine management in the health care & financing institutions particularly health insurance organizations / institutions that would finance and provide TB care in their own or contracted health facilities.
  • Role of health insurance organizations for improving the use of TB medicines in countries.

4 – HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS

This area will focus on improving the use of ARV and TB medicines by health care providers (including doctors, pharmacists and other health care professionals), promotion, quality of product and Good Pharmacy Practice. In this session, we will discuss research on:

HIV/AIDS

  • Pharmacy and provider level barriers and interventions for pharmacovigilance, including stock outs, supply change management, and ARV substitutions during stock outs
  • Task-shifting and the role of health care workers in improving safe use of ARVs
  • Policies/programs to help clinics/providers monitor and support patient ARV adherence 

TB

  • Issues related to improving use of TB medicines in front-line health facilities
  • Issues and impact of the direct observation of treatment in the treatment adherence
  • Distribution and inventory control of TB medicines in front-line health facilities
  • MDR-TB care and drug management in health facilities including control of inventory and use (e.g. direct observation of treatment)
  • Monitoring the use of TB medicines in health facilities in public and/or private sector
  • Monitoring and/or regulation of sale of TB medicines in private sector

5 – CONSUMERS, PATIENTS AND COMMUNITY SYSTEMS

This area will cover the perspectives of consumers, patients and community systems on access to and use of ARV and TB medicines. In this session, we seek work on:

HIV/AIDS

  • Community level interventions to improve treatment access and adherence including peer support, non-clinician treatment extenders, transportation mechanisms, and mobile pharmacies
  • Patient-level barriers and facilitators to ARV initiation, adherence, and persistence
  • Potentials for consumer reporting of adverse events

TB

  • Community participation in the treatment of TB, such as treatment supporters
  • Community / patient organization & support to TB patients
  • Patients organization and/or activists in the access to TB care & treatment