Roles and responsibilities
A steering committee has been set up consisting of the principal investigator (MS), co-principal investigator (KN), study doctor (IS), pharmacist (LM) and ICT person (RM). They meet on a bi-weekly basis to provide oversight of the trial progress. Furthermore, an ethical mentor is assigned to the study who will be consulted by the steering committee in case of ethical considerations. The study doctor serves as the study coordinator with the help from the pharmacist and the ICT person. In the field sites, regular nurse counsellors and physicians in caring for and treating people living with HIV are responsible for identifying potential participants, informed consent procedures and data collection. Besides the steering committee, there is a study team consisting of the steering committee, data manager, ethics mentor, research assistants, nurse and financial administrator. Each field site has been assigned a study team member responsible for overseeing the data collection processes and study procedures. Close communication with community advisory boards that exist in our field sites.