University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
AIDS Behav. 2023 May;27(Suppl 1):84-93. doi: 10.1007/s10461-022-03959-0. Epub 2022 Dec 27.
We investigated perceived impacts of COVID-19 on the delivery of adolescent HIV treatment and prevention services in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by administering a survey to members of the Adolescent HIV Prevention and Treatment Implementation Science Alliance (AHISA) from February to April 2021. We organized COVID-19 impacts, as perceived by AHISA teams, under three themes: service interruptions, service adjustments, and perceived individual-level health impacts. AHISA teams commonly reported interruptions to prevention programs, diagnostic testing, and access to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Common service adjustments included decentralization of ART refills, expanded multi-month ART distribution, and digital technology use. Perceived individual-level impacts included social isolation, loss to follow-up, food insecurity, poverty, and increases in adolescent pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. The need for collaboration among stakeholders were commonly cited as lessons learned by AHISA teams. Survey findings highlight the need for implementation science research to evaluate the effects of pandemic-related HIV service adaptations in SSA.
我们通过向 2021 年 2 月至 4 月期间的青少年艾滋病毒预防和治疗实施科学联盟（AHISA）成员进行调查，研究了 COVID-19 对撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）青少年艾滋病毒治疗和预防服务提供的感知影响。我们将 AHISA 团队感知到的 COVID-19 影响组织成三个主题：服务中断、服务调整和感知到的个人层面健康影响。AHISA 团队普遍报告预防计划、诊断检测和获得抗逆转录病毒疗法（ART）的中断。常见的服务调整包括 ART 续药的去中心化、扩大多剂量 ART 分发和数字技术的使用。感知到的个人层面影响包括社会隔离、失访、粮食不安全、贫困以及青少年怀孕和性传播感染的增加。AHISA 团队普遍认为，利益相关者之间的合作是吸取的经验教训。调查结果强调了在 SSA 进行实施科学研究以评估与大流行相关的 HIV 服务调整的效果的必要性。
