Comorbidities and Virologic Outcome Among Patients on Anti-retroviral Therapy in Rural Lesotho

This study is conducted in a cohort of HIV-positive patients on first-line anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in rural health facilities in Lesotho, Southern Africa. It examines virologic treatment failure as well as chronic communicable and non-communicable comorbidities among patients on ART. The study has two phases. Phase 1 consists of a cross-sectional survey to determine prevalence of treatment failure as well as the prevalence of the following comorbidities: diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, depression, alcohol use disorder, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Phase 2 is a cohort study, where patients with treatment failure or a comorbidity or both are followed-up for 12 months.