Ezenwaji Chisom Ogochukwu, Alum Esther Ugo, Ugwu Okechukwu Paul-Chima
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Department of Research and Publications, Kampala International University, P. O. Box 20000, Kampala, Uganda.
Int J Equity Health. 2025 Jul 14;24(1):205. doi: 10.1186/s12939-025-02584-2.
Despite advancements in HIV management, healthcare inequalities continue to exist, especially in rural and populations vulnerable to HIV, where factors such as distance, low income, prejudice, and a shortage of healthcare workers contribute to delayed diagnosis and inadequate care.
This commentary explores how telemedicine can close the healthcare disparity gap for HIV patients in rural and vulnerable settings by bringing care closer and decreasing stigma.
The study analyzed primary sources, such as articles from PubMed, Science Direct, the Web of Science, and WHO reports from 2020 to 2024, including case studies, to examine the role of telemedicine in global HIV care. It assessed challenges, effectiveness, and infrastructural barriers, as well as policy implications.
Telemedicine in HIV care for rural and vulnerable groups includes virtual consultation, monitoring, telehealth, digital health education, diagnostic services, telecounselling, telemental health, telepreventive care, and emergency services. It improves treatment involvement, reduces travel, ensures confidentiality, and reduces social disapproval. However, internet inefficiency and infrastructure issues in isolated regions hinder its use.
Telemedicine effectively addresses HIV care gaps in rural and high-risk populations by increasing service utilization, reducing stigma, and improving patient care quality; however, long-term sustainability requires infrastructure improvements and internet connectivity issues.
尽管在艾滋病毒管理方面取得了进展，但医疗保健不平等现象仍然存在，特别是在农村地区以及易感染艾滋病毒的人群中，距离、低收入、偏见和医疗保健工作者短缺等因素导致诊断延迟和护理不足。
本评论探讨远程医疗如何通过拉近医疗服务距离和减少耻辱感来缩小农村和弱势群体中艾滋病毒患者的医疗差距。
该研究分析了主要来源，如2020年至2024年来自PubMed、Science Direct、科学网的文章以及世界卫生组织的报告，包括案例研究，以研究远程医疗在全球艾滋病毒护理中的作用。它评估了挑战、有效性、基础设施障碍以及政策影响。
针对农村和弱势群体的艾滋病毒护理中的远程医疗包括虚拟咨询、监测、远程健康、数字健康教育、诊断服务、远程咨询、远程心理健康、远程预防护理和紧急服务。它提高了治疗参与度，减少了出行，确保了保密性，并减少了社会歧视。然而，偏远地区的网络效率低下和基础设施问题阻碍了其使用。
远程医疗通过提高服务利用率、减少耻辱感和改善患者护理质量，有效解决了农村和高危人群中的艾滋病毒护理差距；然而，长期可持续性需要改善基础设施和解决网络连接问题。
