Anti-retroviral therapy after “Treat All” in Harare, Zimbabwe: What are the changes in uptake, time to initiation and retention?

Background: In Zimbabwe, Harare was the first province to implement “Treat All” for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV). Since its roll out in July 2016, no study has been conducted to assess the changes in key programme indicators. We compared antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake, time to ART initiation from diagnosis, and retention before and during “Treat All”. Methods: We conducted an ecological study to assess ART uptake among all PLHIV newly diagnosed before and during “Treat All”. We conducted a cohort study to assess time to ART initiation and retention in care among all PLHIV newly initiated on ART from all electronic patient management system-supported sites (n=50) before and during “Treat All”. Results: ART uptake increased from 65% (n=4619) by the end of quarter one, 2014 to 85% (n=5152) by the end of quarter four, 2018.  A cohort of 2289 PLHIV were newly initiated on ART before (April-June 2015) and 1682 during “Treat all” (April-June 2017). Their age and gender distribution was similar. The proportion of PLHIV in early stages of disease was significantly higher during “Treat all” (73.2% vs. 55.6%, p<0.001). The median time to ART initiation was significantly lower during “Treat All” (31 vs. 88 days, p<0.001). Cummulative retention at three, six and 12 months was consistently lower during “Treat all” and was significant at six months (74.9% vs.78.1% p=0.022). Conclusion: Although there were benefits of early ART initiation during “Treat All”, the programme should consider strategies to improve retention.