Origin of the Thembisa model

 

Many mathematical models have been developed to describe different aspects of the South African HIV epidemic. Thembisa was developed in an effort to synthesize four previously-developed models, each of which has different strengths and limitations:

Thembisa incorporates many of the elements of these previously-published models. In addition it also includes a number of new features not included in any of the previous models (for example, modelling of male circumcision and pre-exposure prophylaxis).

 

Versions of the Thembisa model

 

Two versions of the Thembisa model have been developed: a model programmed in C++ and a model programmed in Excel and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The Excel/VBA model can be downloaded for free (see Downloads). The Excel/VBA version has the advantage of being easy to use (especially for individuals without computer programming experience) but is slow to run, and due to the increasing complexity of the model, it was decided not to update the Excel version of the model after version 4.3. The C++ model is much faster to run and is therefore used for the purpose of uncertainty analysis and calculation of 95% confidence intervals around model outputs. The C++ model is not user-friendly in its current form, but the code can be downloaded here.

 

The Thembisa model has been applied to South Africa as a whole as well as each of the nine provinces. The default assumptions in the model relate to the country as a whole, but a file with province-specific assumptions can be downloaded and used to generate province-specific results.

 

A number of versions of the Thembisa model have been published:

 

Recently, a Thembisa TB model has been developed (see the Tuberculosis tab for more detail).

 

Model developers

 

Dr Leigh Johnson is an actuary and epidemiologist, based at the Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research, at the University of Cape Town.

 

Professor Rob Dorrington is an actuary and demographer, based at the Centre for Actuarial Research, at the University of Cape Town.

 

Dr Mmamapudi Kubjane is an epidemiologist, based at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, at the University of Witwatersrand.

 

Sponsors

 

The following organizations have funded the development of the Thembisa model: