Traditional Medicine Data to Help Trace HIV/AIDS Lost To Follow-Up

Cote d’Ivoire

It is estimated that 80% of the population in Cote d’Ivoire chose traditional medicine for methods of care, especially in rural areas. A recent University Co, LLC (UR) study showed that 5% of HIV Lost to Follow-up are moving towards traditional medicine. The Data for Youth Service Collaborative (DYSC) project, let by the Consortium Des Chiffres et Des Jeunes (DCDJ), and the National Traditional Medicine Promotion Programme (PNPMT) of Cote d’Ivoire have established a working collaboration to improve the quality data necessary to facilitate the awareness and return of LTFU to the treatment circuit.

The Consortium Des Chiffres et Des Jeunes, a DCLI-funded program collaborated with the PNPMT to develop a system to capture, analyze and report data from Traditional Medicine Centres and provide training to traditional medicine practitioners to report data on their practice as well as Ministry of Health Staff. This system (OCAR.CMT) has been deployed to 7 pilot sites and has since increased traditional medicine data reporting from 2% to 86%. Given the large proportion of men frequenting these practitioners, this provides a unique opportunity for PEPFAR to target its interventions to this sensitive and hard to reach group.