ITM Alumni webinar #4 Prize for Global Research 2023 - Blessing Chidinma Umeigbo

Background

This new series of ITM alumni webinars features the four ITM winners of the Prize for Global Research 2023. In webinar #4, MPH-alumna and laureate Blessing Chidinma Umeigbo (Nigeria) will share insights from her master thesis, entitled "Impact of a Quality Improvement Intervention on Viral Load Suppression Amongst Children and Adolescents Living with HIV in Adamawa State".

In her thesis, Blessing Umeigbo used the opportunity of her thesis work to evaluate the impact of the QI intervention on viral load suppression among CALHIV (aged 0-19 years) who had been receiving ART. She did a retrospective analysis of the data from CALHIV who received care guided by the QI intervention and compared their outcomes to those of CALHIV receiving care at facilities providing standard of care. Her findings are in line with previous studies and suggest a positive impact of the QI intervention on viral load suppression among CALHIV, which was sustained after the intervention period. She recommends public health practitioners to use methods that involve context-specific community participation, like QI, to strengthen health systems. Blessing will present the main findings and outcomes of her thesis, and discuss her recommendations and conclusion.

The Q&A-session, moderated by her thesis supervisor Bernadette Hensen, will enable to answer questions from the audience and to share experiences from other contexts.