Integrated Management of HIV and Ncds in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province: A SWOT Analysis for Primary Health Care Facilities

Abstract

Introduction: integrated management of Human Immunodeficiency virus and Non communicable diseases is essential to improve clinical outcomes of patients living with HIV. there is poor implementation of integrated management of HIV and NCDs in Primary health care facilities in most of African countries. The aim of the study was to conduct the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of the Vhembe district to determine the implementation of integrated management of HIV and NCDs among NIMART nurses in Limpopo Province ,South Africa .Material and Methods: A descriptive quantitative study was employed using checkilist and SWOT framework. We used 25 PHC facilities to collect facility data, NIMART nurses data and patients data to complete the four checklists. The collected data was analysed using SPSS version 26. the analysed data was further analysed and segregated into the SWOT framework.Results: From the total of 25 PHC facilities we found that 147(100%) were NIMART trained ,109 (74.1%) were not trained on Adult primary care guidelines. All 100% of facilities did not have the updated adult primary care guideline 2016/17. In all 25 (100%) despite the evidence of implementation integrated management of HIV and NCDs , patients were not screened for diabetes as per the guidelines.Conclusion: The SWOT analysis allowed the researchers to identify the areas which can be sustained , strengthened and addressed for successful implementation of integration of HIV and NCDs to improve patient clinical outcomes in PHC facilities. The results of the study may be applied to any context and maybe used by decision makers, managers, professionals and other relevant stakeholders to develop more policies or frameworks on the integrated management of HIV and NCDs.