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Antiretroviral Treatment for HIV in Rural Uganda: Two- Year Treatment Outcomes of a Prospective Health Centre/Community-Based and Hospital-Based Cohort 1 2 1 1 3 4 Walter Kipp *, Joseph Konde-Lule , L. Duncan Saunders , Arif Alibhai , Stan Houston , Tom Rubaale , Ambikaipakan Senthilselvan1, Joa Okech-Ojony4 1 Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, 2 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, 3 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, 4 Kabarole District Health Department, Fort Portal, Uganda Abstract Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, a shortage of trained health professionals and limited geographical access to health facilities present major barriers to the expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART). We tested the utility of a health centre (HC)/ community-based approach in the provision of ART to persons living with HIV in a rural area in western Uganda. Methods: The HIV treatment outcomes of the HC/community-based ART program were evaluated and compared with those of an ART program at a best-practice regional hospital. The HC/community-based cohort comprised 185 treatment- ¨ naıve patients enrolled in 2006. The hospital cohort comprised of 200 patients enrolled in the same time period. The HC/ community-based program involved weekly home visits to patients by community volunteers who were trained to deliver antiretroviral drugs to monitor and support adherence to treatment, and to identify and report adverse reactions and other clinical symptoms. Treatment supporters in the homes also had the responsibility to remind patients to take their drugs