Service delivery challenges in HIV care during the first year of the COVID‐19 pandemic: results from a site assessment survey across the global IeDEA consortium

作者：Ellen Brazier, Rogers Ajeh, Fernanda Maruri, Beverly Musick, Aimee Freeman, C. William Wester, Man‐Po Lee, Tinei Shamu, Brenda Crabtree‐Ramírez, Marcelline d’Almeida, Kara Wools‐Kaloustian, Nagalingeswaran Kumarasamy, Keri N. Althoff, Christella Twizere, Beatriz Grinsztejn, Frank Tanser, Eugène Messou, Helen Byakwaga, Stephany N. Duda, Denis Nash, the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS · 发表于：Journal of the International AIDS Society · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1002/jia2.26036 · 被引用次数：37 · 研究领域：HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions、HIV/AIDS drug development and treatment、Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation

INTRODUCTION: Interruptions in treatment pose risks for people with HIV (PWH) and threaten progress in ending the HIV epidemic; however, the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on HIV service delivery across diverse settings is not broadly documented. METHODS: From September 2020 to March 2021, the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) research consortium surveyed 238 HIV care sites across seven geographic regions to document constraints in HIV service delivery during the first year of the pandemic and strategies for ensuring care continuity for PWH. Descriptive statistics were stratified by national HIV prevalence (<1%, 1-4.9% and ≥5%) and country income levels. RESULTS: Questions about pandemic-related consequences for HIV care were completed by 225 (95%) sites in 42 countries with low (n = 82), medium (n = 86) and high (n = 57) HIV prevalence, including low- (n = 57), lower-middle (n = 79), upper-middle (n = 39) and high- (n = 50) income countries. Most sites reported being subject to pandemic-related restrictions on travel, service provision or other operations (75%), and experiencing negative impacts (76%) on clinic operations, including decreased hours/days, reduced provider availability, clinic reconfiguration for COVID-19 services, record-keeping interruptions and suspension of partner support. Almost all sites in low-prevalence and high-income countries reported increased use of telemedicine (85% and 100%, respectively), compared with less than half of...