The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, has kicked off the implementation of the Person-Centred Approaches to Address Viremia: Connection, Rapport, and Engagement (P-CoRE) Study in 24 public health facilities across Lusaka and Central provinces.

To kick off implementation, the P-CoRE study team recently conducted the Main Study Start-up Training at CIDRZ Head Office in Lusaka. The training brought together research assistants from Lusaka Province and aimed to equip them with comprehensive knowledge of the study protocol, data collection tools, human subject protection, and procedures for participant recruitment.

In his opening remarks, P-CoRE Study Senior Research Manager Mr Kombatende Sikombe encouraged participants to apply the knowledge gained during the training. He stated that “collecting high-quality data will support the success of the study and, ultimately, contribute to better health outcomes”.

Reinforcing the importance of ethical research practices, the trainers emphasised that informed consent goes beyond a signature, stating that study participants must be made to fully understand the purpose, procedures, potential risks, benefits, and confidentiality of the study before agreeing to take part.

The P-CoRE initiative is designed to develop and test a scalable, sustainable person-centred care (PCC) package tailored to address high viral loads among disproportionately affected populations. The target populations are People living with HIV(PLHIV) who are out of HIV care, in care with missing viral load and those with documented viral load, which was elevated at the time of sampling. The specific target population of interest include infants (0 – 24 months), children (2 – 14 years), adolescents (15 – 19 years), men, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and new ART starters.