Decade-long antiretroviral therapy in Uganda
Population-health outcomes from a national HIV treatment cohort, 2014–2024
Bibliographic Data
The scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has transformed the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, yet longitudinal public health insights from national programmatic cohorts remain scarce. As global targets move toward epidemic control and elimination of virological failure, understanding how profiles and outcomes of people living with HIV (PLWH) evolve in real-world settings is essential. The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO), Uganda’s largest HIV care provider, maintains one of the longest-running national registries of PLWH. We aimed to generate insights to inform targeted interventions, optimize programmatic responses and improve long-term care for PLWH in resource-constrained settings. We conducted a secondary analysis of routinely collected data within an open cohort of 54,348 PLWH enrolled at 11 TASO clinics between 2014–2024. Descriptive statistics summarized demographic, clinical, immunological, behavioral and socioeconomic characteristics at baseline and follow-up. At most recent recorded follow-up, 60.4% of PLWH were female with median age of 39 years (IQR 31–47); 55% aged 25–44 years. At ART initiation, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based regimens dominated (>90% through 2017), by 2024, > 99% of ART initiations were dolutegravir (DTG)- based, aligning with national policy. Immune recovery improved over study period; however, 12% still presented with CD4
Antiretroviral therapy · Cohort · Comorbidity · Descriptive statistics · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) · Pandemic · Poverty · Psychosocial · Public health · Socioeconomic status · HIV-related health complications and treatments · HIV/AIDS drug development and treatment · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |