Tsitsi Apollo
Biographic Data
| ID | 5993106 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tsitsi Apollo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tsitsi |
| FAMILY NAME | Apollo |
| SIGNATURE | APOLLO T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ministry of Health and Child Welfare |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9881-0914 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 10 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
The impact of US Government Stop Work Order on HIV epidemic trajectory in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is highly dependent on United States Government (USG) funding for the HIV Response, where 42% of the HIV expenditures in 2020 were financed by the USG and in 2023, PEPFAR invested more than $200 million to support HIV programmes. In late January 2025, the USG issued a “Stop Work Order,” suspending funding for international aid and development during a 90-day review period and this was expected to have a significant negative impact on the…
Feasibility and acceptability of task sharing collection of HIV viral load dried blood spot samples with community lay cadres
Viral load (VL) testing is a critical tool for clinical management of HIV, yet healthcare worker (HCW) shortages remain a key barrier to VL sample collection. This study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of VL dried blood spot (DBS) sample collection by community lay cadres (CLCs) compared to collection by trained HCWs. We implemented a cross-sectional diagnostic validation study across 10 purposefully selected public health facilities i…
An evaluation of a choice architecture-based intervention on prescribing of TB preventive treatment to people living with HIV in southern Africa (the CAT study)
INTRODUCTION: While highly effective for reducing the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease, TB preventive treatment (TPT) is underused among people living with HIV (PWH). We evaluated the effectiveness of a behavioural economics-based choice architecture approach to increase facility-level TPT prescribing to PWH in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. METHODS: We conducted a cluster-randomised trial within the IMPAACT4TB 3HP rollout, in which 57 healthc…
Cost-effectiveness of Zvandiri, a community-based support intervention to reduce virological failure in adolescents living with HIV in Zimbabwe
Improving antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) improves outcomes, but with resource implications. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis extrapolating the costs and benefits of a community-based peer-support intervention (Zvandiri) among ALHIV in Zimbabwe. We used a de-novo multistate Markov decision-analytic model that simulated Zvandiri lifetime costs and benefits on viral suppression, death rates…
HIV incidence and prevalence projections for Zimbabwe
Introduction : Understanding how HIV epidemics are likely to behave in the future is key to informing HIV response strategies in low-income countries. Up-to-date HIV epidemiological estimates are important for policy decision- making, but surveillance data can be out of date. This study compared forecasts from HIV epidemiological models. Methods : Five independent modelling groups (EMOD-HIV, Goals, HIV Synthesis, Optima and PopART-IBM) calibrated…
Adolescents and young adults are the most undiagnosed of HIV and virally unsuppressed in Eastern and Southern Africa
Age and gender disparities within the HIV cascade of care are critical to focus interventions efficiently. We assessed gender-age groups at the highest probability of unfavorable outcomes in the HIV cascade in five HIV prevalent settings. We performed pooled data analyses from population-based surveys conducted in Kenya, South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe between 2012 and 2016. Individuals aged 15–59 years were eligible. Participants were tested f…
Economic implications of Covid-19 for the HIV epidemic and the response in Zimbabwe
Understanding the economic implications of COVID-19 for the HIV epidemic and response is critical for designing policies and strategies to effectively sustain past gains and accelerate progress to end these colliding pandemics. While considerable cross-national empirical evidence exists at the global level, there is a paucity of such deep-dive evidence at national level. This article addresses this gap. While Zimbabwe experienced fewer COVID-19 c…
Interrupted Access to and Use of Family Planning Among Youth in a Community‐Based Service in Zimbabwe During the First Year of the Covid‐19 Pandemic
The COVID‐19 pandemic has had serious impacts on economic, social, and health systems, and fragile public health systems have become overburdened in many countries, exacerbating existing service delivery challenges. This study describes the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on family planning services within a community‐based integrated HIV and sexual and reproductive health intervention for youth aged 16–24 years being trialled in Zimbabwe (CHIEDZ…
Effectiveness of a peer-led adolescent mental health intervention on HIV virological suppression and mental health in Zimbabwe
This trial evaluates the effectiveness of peer-delivery of mental health care on mental health and HIV viral load among ALHIV. If effective this intervention has the potential to be scaled-up to improve these outcomes.Trial registration: PACTR201810756862405. 08 October 2018
Optimizing Differentiated HIV Treatment Models in Urban Zimbabwe
Differentiated service delivery holds great promise for streamlining the delivery of health services for HIV. This study used a discrete choice experiment to assess preferences for differentiated HIV treatment delivery model characteristics among 500 virally suppressed adults on antiretroviral therapy in Harare, Zimbabwe. Treatment model characteristics included location, consultation type, healthcare worker cadre, operation times, visit frequenc…
No prominent works on this page.
Effectiveness of a peer-led adolescent mental health intervention on HIV virological suppression and mental health in Zimbabwe
This trial evaluates the effectiveness of peer-delivery of mental health care on mental health and HIV viral load among ALHIV. If effective this intervention has the potential to be scaled-up to improve these outcomes.Trial registration: PACTR201810756862405. 08 October 2018
Optimizing Differentiated HIV Treatment Models in Urban Zimbabwe
Differentiated service delivery holds great promise for streamlining the delivery of health services for HIV. This study used a discrete choice experiment to assess preferences for differentiated HIV treatment delivery model characteristics among 500 virally suppressed adults on antiretroviral therapy in Harare, Zimbabwe. Treatment model characteristics included location, consultation type, healthcare worker cadre, operation times, visit frequenc…
Economic implications of Covid-19 for the HIV epidemic and the response in Zimbabwe
Understanding the economic implications of COVID-19 for the HIV epidemic and response is critical for designing policies and strategies to effectively sustain past gains and accelerate progress to end these colliding pandemics. While considerable cross-national empirical evidence exists at the global level, there is a paucity of such deep-dive evidence at national level. This article addresses this gap. While Zimbabwe experienced fewer COVID-19 c…
Interrupted Access to and Use of Family Planning Among Youth in a Community‐Based Service in Zimbabwe During the First Year of the Covid‐19 Pandemic
The COVID‐19 pandemic has had serious impacts on economic, social, and health systems, and fragile public health systems have become overburdened in many countries, exacerbating existing service delivery challenges. This study describes the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on family planning services within a community‐based integrated HIV and sexual and reproductive health intervention for youth aged 16–24 years being trialled in Zimbabwe (CHIEDZ…
Adolescents and young adults are the most undiagnosed of HIV and virally unsuppressed in Eastern and Southern Africa
Age and gender disparities within the HIV cascade of care are critical to focus interventions efficiently. We assessed gender-age groups at the highest probability of unfavorable outcomes in the HIV cascade in five HIV prevalent settings. We performed pooled data analyses from population-based surveys conducted in Kenya, South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe between 2012 and 2016. Individuals aged 15–59 years were eligible. Participants were tested f…
An evaluation of a choice architecture-based intervention on prescribing of TB preventive treatment to people living with HIV in southern Africa (the CAT study)
INTRODUCTION: While highly effective for reducing the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease, TB preventive treatment (TPT) is underused among people living with HIV (PWH). We evaluated the effectiveness of a behavioural economics-based choice architecture approach to increase facility-level TPT prescribing to PWH in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. METHODS: We conducted a cluster-randomised trial within the IMPAACT4TB 3HP rollout, in which 57 healthc…
Cost-effectiveness of Zvandiri, a community-based support intervention to reduce virological failure in adolescents living with HIV in Zimbabwe
Improving antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) improves outcomes, but with resource implications. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis extrapolating the costs and benefits of a community-based peer-support intervention (Zvandiri) among ALHIV in Zimbabwe. We used a de-novo multistate Markov decision-analytic model that simulated Zvandiri lifetime costs and benefits on viral suppression, death rates…
HIV incidence and prevalence projections for Zimbabwe
Introduction : Understanding how HIV epidemics are likely to behave in the future is key to informing HIV response strategies in low-income countries. Up-to-date HIV epidemiological estimates are important for policy decision- making, but surveillance data can be out of date. This study compared forecasts from HIV epidemiological models. Methods : Five independent modelling groups (EMOD-HIV, Goals, HIV Synthesis, Optima and PopART-IBM) calibrated…
The impact of US Government Stop Work Order on HIV epidemic trajectory in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is highly dependent on United States Government (USG) funding for the HIV Response, where 42% of the HIV expenditures in 2020 were financed by the USG and in 2023, PEPFAR invested more than $200 million to support HIV programmes. In late January 2025, the USG issued a “Stop Work Order,” suspending funding for international aid and development during a 90-day review period and this was expected to have a significant negative impact on the…
Feasibility and acceptability of task sharing collection of HIV viral load dried blood spot samples with community lay cadres
Viral load (VL) testing is a critical tool for clinical management of HIV, yet healthcare worker (HCW) shortages remain a key barrier to VL sample collection. This study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of VL dried blood spot (DBS) sample collection by community lay cadres (CLCs) compared to collection by trained HCWs. We implemented a cross-sectional diagnostic validation study across 10 purposefully selected public health facilities i…
HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (8 works) · Medicine (7 works) · Environmental health (6 works) · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (5 works) · Economic growth (4 works) · Economics (4 works) · HIV/AIDS Impact and Responses (4 works) · Internal Medicine (4 works) · Nursing (4 works) · Developing country (3 works)