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UPART

Uganda Paediatric and Adolescent HIV Cohort on Antiretroviral Therapy

Accelerating Uganda’s progress towards eliminating paediatric HIV

The Uganda Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Cohort on Antiretroviral Therapy (UP ART), is an observational cohort study which aims to establish a nationally representative observational pediatric and adolescent HIV cohort on ART in Uganda. The cohort aims to generate high quality data on children and adolescents in routine HIV care across the country, to address key public health questions such as the uptake and impact of the roll out of new treatments and guidance on HIV care.

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UPART

Our Focus Areas

The study focuses on building upon existing infrastructure including use of facility level electronic health records introduced in 2019, to improve the completeness and readiness of patients’ clinical and treatment data for analyses on the uptake and effectiveness of new treatments and formulations and guidance on HIV care. The cohort is currently implementing two sub-studies; the “Ugandan Paediatric Anti-Retroviral Treatment study on long term outcomes on dolutegravir in children and adolescents living with HIV in Uganda (UP ART DTG study) funded by ViiV Health Care and the.“Uganda Paediatric Anti-Retroviral Therapy (UP-ART) study on diagnosis, Prevention and Treatment of Advanced HIV disease in Children and Adolescents living with HIV in Uganda (UP-ART THRIVE sub-study) funded by UNITAID. The cohort is implemented at four regional referral hospitals and a not-for-profit hospital in Uganda, and is longitudinally following up over 3500 children and adoloscents living with HIV.

01

Data Quality

Improve data quality at study sites by building on and strengthening existing data systems for research.

02

Data-driven Implementation

Utilizing real-world data for evidence-based program implementation to improve pediatric and adolescent HIV programs.

03

Dissemination

We contribute to the body of evidence locally and internationally through disseminating research findings.

04

Capacity Building

Building capacity of study teams in research knowledge and skills through training and mentorship.

05

Global Contribution

Contributing to global meta-analyses of the health of CALHIV, informing policy and guidelines.

06

Collaborations

Form research collaborations locally and internationally to expand our research network, capacity and scope.

Why It Matters

Existing paediatric HIV cohorts in Uganda are based on a small number of large urban centres of excellence, may not be representative of paediatric
HIV care across the country, where there are limited resources. Many evaluation or operational research studies involve short term intensive data extraction from selected clinics. These projects do not strengthen our capacity for improved data collection in routine care, within existing MoH systems. Aim: To build upon existing data collection tools and electronic medical records in hospitals scaling up new antiretroviral formulations (e.g. DTG) in children / adolescents to evaluate the uptake and outcomes to inform national programme planning and national & global research.

Our Funders & Partners

This study has received funding through grants received from multiple sources. The initial grants supported the set up of UPART phase I from November 2021 to December 2024 with funding from; the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International AIDS Society (IAS), Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER), University College London (UCL). Implementation of UPART phase II begun in June 2022 with two sub-studies which are on-going and funded by ViiV Healthcare and UNITAID. Our partners for UPART phase II include; Ministry of Health Uganda, PENTA ID Network, University College London and Mildmay Research Centre Uganda.

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UPART

How It Works

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1

Approvals and Consent

Process relevant approvals to conduct the study. Obtain written informed consent and assent where appropriate. Enrol and follow-up study participant.

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Data Collection and Analysis

Utilise individual level routinely collected data captured in electronic medical records and analyse pseudo-anonymised data.

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3

Dissemination

Share research findings locally and internationally to improve paediatrics and adoloscent HIV programmes.

FAQs

Find quick, reliable answers to common questions about the Uganda Paediatric Antiretroviral Therapy cohort. 

The Uganda Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Cohort on Antiretroviral Therapy (UP ART), is an observational cohort study which aims to establish a nationally representative observational pediatric and adolescent HIV cohort on ART in Uganda. The cohort aims to generate high quality data on children and adolescents in routine HIV care across the country, to address key public health questions such as the uptake and impact of the roll out of new treatments and guidance on HIV care. 

The cohort is implemented at four regional referral hospitals and a not-for-profit hospital in Uganda.

Children and adolescents diagnosed with HIV while aged 0-19 years receiving HIV care at a participating centre, with written informed consent and assent where appropriate.

UPART is longitudinally following up over 3500 children and adoloscents living with HIV.

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