Assessing determinants of the availability of HIV tracer commodities in health facilities in Wakiso District, Uganda.

BACKGROUND: HIV/AIDS commodity stock-outs are still rampant in most African Countries causing treatment interruption, antiretroviral resistance, treatment failure, morbidity and mortality. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the determinants of the availability of HIV Tracer Commodities in Health Facilities in Wakiso District, Uganda.

METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional design was conducted in 42 Health Facilities [HFs] offering HIV/AIDs services in Wakiso District, Uganda. Semi-structured questionnaire adapted from the Anti-Retroviral Therapy Supervision Performance and Recognition Strategy [ART SPARS] tool Version 2.0 | 2018111 was used to collect data.

RESULTS: The majority of the HFs 28 [67%] had all the seven tracer commodities on the day of the visit. The majority of the HFs 33 [78.6%] were using Manual stock management tools that were fully updated. The availability of HIV tracer commodities was high in facilities that made timely ordering [AOR: 2.538, 95% CI: 2.126-3.304, p -value = 0.003] while the use of manual LMIS alone at the facility [AOR: 0.623, 95% CI: 0.131-0.958, p -value = 0.002] was associated with low availability.

CONCLUSION: This study indicated that 67% of health facilities visited had all HIV Tracer commodities on the day of the visit. ART commodity management should be computerised and orders made on time to ensure the availability of commodities.