SA team develops HIV monitoring tool

A software application developed by the University of Cape Town to monitor patients
diagnosed with  HIV and TB  and on treatment for same is being implemented by countries such as Mozambique, Malawi, Vietnam and Pakistan.The electronic register, developed by UCT's Centre for Infectious Disease, Epidemiology and Research (CIDER), is already in use in over 3000 clinics in South Africa. Known as TIER.net, the software was developed because paper registers used to keep track of HIV patients became outdated and unreliable. Although another application-ekapa2-exists that performs the same basic function it is not in used by all clinics as it relies on internet access to work. TIER.Net, on the other hand, operates offline, requiring only a computer.

COLLABORATION

The application is the result of collaboration between CIDER, the Canadian International Development Agency, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organisation. The Western Cape and national government teams also participated in the development of the software.

Representatives from Mozambique, Malawi, Vietnam and Pakistan were at UCT recently for training on TIER.Net.
CIDER has been responsible for supervising the implementation of TIER.Net and eKapa 2 in the Western Cape, as well as training "master implementers" for the national Department of Health.

Originally the idea was that TIER.Net would only be used in the Western Cape, but it soon attracted the attention of the Department of Health, who requested that it be made available to all clinics in South Africa.
There are more than 4 000 public sector clinics in South Africa, with TIER.Net being used in more than 3 000 facilities. It cannot be implemented in all clinics as some do not have electricity.

Once clinics have been equipped with bandwidth, they will cross over to eKapa 2.
"All three systems – paper register, TIER.Net and eKapa – are interoperable," said CIDER's Meg Osler, who oversaw TIER.Net's software development. All three systems can be used to produce the same reports that feed into a single provincial and national database for ARV services.