Direct collaboration between hospitals and NGOs, an essential tool to reinforce linkage to care in people living with HIV

With the aim of improving access and engagement to healthcare in people living with HIV (PLHIV), in 2022 Gregorio Marañón Hospital and the NGO COGAM developed a circuit for recruitment and referral to hospital. Program targeted PLHIV who were neither receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) nor on medical follow-up (FU); but also, individuals at risk who underwent screening tests at the NGO and, if positive, were referred for confirmation. The result was an increase in annual new PLHIV seen in hospital by reaching a population who were, essentially, young men (94% male, median age 30 years), migrants (95%) with recent diagnosis of HIV (median 5 years) and who were recently arrived in Spain (median 5 months). Most of them hadn´t healthcare coverage (78%). In multivariate analysis, that included all PLHIV seen for the first time in the ID Unit between 2019 and 2022, lack of healthcare coverage was the only independent predictor of lost to FU that reached statistical significance (HR 5.19, CI 2.76-9.47). Furthermore, time from HIV diagnosis to ART initiating was shortened from 14 to 6 days without affecting linkage to care. Our conclusion is that collaboration with NGOs reinforce diagnosis, FU, and adherence to ART for PLHIV.

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Publication Details

Journal
Scientific Reports
Published
2025-01-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86540-8
Primary Topic
HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Direct collaboration between hospitals and NGOs, an essential tool to reinforce linkage to care in people living with HIV

David Sánchez, Elena Bermúdez, Chiara Fanciulli, Juan Berenguer et al.
Scientific Reports
HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
article

Direct collaboration between hospitals and NGOs, an essential tool to reinforce linkage to care in people living with HIV

David Sánchez, Elena Bermúdez, Chiara Fanciulli, Juan Berenguer, Paloma Gijón, María Ferris, Maricela Valerio, Teresa Aldámiz‐Echevarría, Roberto Alonso, Francisco Tejerina, Cristina Díez, Pedro Montilla, Carmen Rodrı́guez, Mónica Martín López, Belén Padilla, Leire Pérez, Oswaldo Vegas, Mario Domene, Blanca Lodeiros, Juan Carlos López, José M. Bellón, Patricia Muñoz, Mario Blazquez, Almudena Calvo, Critina Ventimilla
article en

Abstract

With the aim of improving access and engagement to healthcare in people living with HIV (PLHIV), in 2022 Gregorio Marañón Hospital and the NGO COGAM developed a circuit for recruitment and referral to hospital. Program targeted PLHIV who were neither receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) nor on medical follow-up (FU); but also, individuals at risk who underwent screening tests at the NGO and, if positive, were referred for confirmation. The result was an increase in annual new PLHIV seen in hospital by reaching a population who were, essentially, young men (94% male, median age 30 years), migrants (95%) with recent diagnosis of HIV (median 5 years) and who were recently arrived in Spain (median 5 months). Most of them hadn´t healthcare coverage (78%). In multivariate analysis, that included all PLHIV seen for the first time in the ID Unit between 2019 and 2022, lack of healthcare coverage was the only independent predictor of lost to FU that reached statistical significance (HR 5.19, CI 2.76-9.47). Furthermore, time from HIV diagnosis to ART initiating was shortened from 14 to 6 days without affecting linkage to care. Our conclusion is that collaboration with NGOs reinforce diagnosis, FU, and adherence to ART for PLHIV.

Scientific ReportsVol. 15(1)
Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES), Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón (ES), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (ES), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (ES)
Gilead Sciences
Openalex Percentile: Top 97%
HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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