Preparedness of health facilities providing HIV services during COVID-19 pandemic and assessment of their compliance to COVID-19 prevention measures: findings from the Tanzania Service Provision Assessment (SPA) survey

Bajaria, Shraddha; Abdul, Ramadhani

doi:10.11604/pamj.supp.2020.37.1.25443

Cited by 8 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our study has also indicated some variations on the impact of COVID-19 between geographic locations, vulnerable populations and countries. For example, our findings from a Tanzanian study 26 indicated that there were disparities in the level of health facility readiness for COVID-19 prevention measures as urban facilities were two times better than their rural counterparts in terms of available functioning communication systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…After removing duplicates, 747 records remained for titles and abstracts screening, of which 83 articles were retrieved for full-text screening. We conducted the final review on 22 studies,16 24–44 of which 19 (86.4%) were quantitative (figure 1, table 2). A total of 61 papers were excluded for the following reasons: studies assessed clinical and biomedical aspects of COVID-19 (n=28); covered expert opinions or commentary that did not involve primary data (n=12); assessed perceived or anticipated impacts (n=13); were not focused on Africa (n=8).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare systems in Africa: a scoping review of preparedness, impact and response

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed health systems in both developed and developing nations alike. Africa has one of the weakest health systems globally, but there is limited evidence on how the region is prepared for, impacted by and responded to the pandemic.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review of PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL to search peer-reviewed articles and Google, Google Scholar and preprint sites for grey literature. The scoping review captured studies on either preparedness or impacts or responses associated with COVID-19 or covering one or more of the three topics and guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework. The extracted information was documented following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension checklist for scoping reviews. Finally, the resulting data were thematically analysed.ResultsTwenty-two eligible studies, of which 6 reported on health system preparedness, 19 described the impacts of COVID-19 on access to general and essential health services and 7 focused on responses taken by the healthcare systems were included. The main setbacks in health system preparation included lack of available health services needed for the pandemic, inadequate resources and equipment, and limited testing ability and surge capacity for COVID-19. Reduced flow of patients and missing scheduled appointments were among the most common impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health system responses identified in this review included the availability of telephone consultations, re-purposing of available services and establishment of isolation centres, and provisions of COVID-19 guidelines in some settings.ConclusionsThe health systems in Africa were inadequately prepared for the pandemic, and its impact was substantial. Responses were slow and did not match the magnitude of the problem. Interventions that will improve and strengthen health system resilience and financing through local, national and global engagement should be prioritised.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare systems in Africa: a scoping review of preparedness, impact and response

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Evidence has indicated that periodic occupations were at the highest risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, and individuals with chronic diseases were at a high risk since they had to be present at their workplace to earn a higher wage for meeting the costs of living and care. 37 High costs of living and treatment as well as inability to follow up treatment were also among the patients’ concerns. 38 Limited financial resources affected the patients’ adherence to medications, as well.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experience of adherence to treatment among patients with coronary artery disease during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

Zahmatkeshan

Khademian

Zarshenas

et al. 2021

Health Promot Perspect

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused patients with chronic diseases to face various challenges. The present qualitative study aimed to explore adherence to treatment in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This qualitative content analysis was conducted from September 2020 to February 2021. Online in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 patients with CAD after discharge from Nemazi and Al-Zahra heart hospitals, Shiraz, Iran. Data management was done via MAXQDA 12 software using conventional content analysis based on the method proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. Results: The results revealed three main categories, nine subcategories, and 431 primary codes. The first category was ‘improved self-care in the shadow of COVID-19‘ (Improving self-care due to fear of COVID-19, ‘utilization of alternative strategies, and reinforcement of self-care beliefs). The second category was ‘redefinition of support systems’ (need for a support system, seeking for alternative support systems, and changes in social interactions). The last category was ‘barriers to treatment adherence’ (shortage of financial resources, need to adjust with working conditions, and mental conflicts). Conclusion: The results indicated that the COVID-19 threats encouraged the patients with CAD to adhere to their care principles. Nonetheless, the restrictions resulting from the pandemic caused problems in adherence to treatment. Thus, redefinition of the support systems in accordance with the present conditions are recommended.

show abstract

“…For example, a study in Tanzania noted that personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety materials such as medical masks, alcohol-based hand rub, disinfectants and running water needed for COVID-19 prevention by health care workers (HCW) were in short supply, especially at public HIV facilities and HIV facilities located in the rural areas. 26 These issues pose a challenge for HCWs’ adherence to COVID-19 prevention guidelines and puts them at risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.…”

Section: Key Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These include poverty, food insecurity, crowded transportation system, which increases the risk of COVID-19 spread among PWH; 41 the adverse psychosocial impact of the pandemic on PWH, 42 and disparities in health system preparedness across health care facilities in some parts of the continent. 26 Fortunately, the health systems in Africa have risen up to the challenge of ensuring continued HIV service delivery in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. 43 While this achievement is commendable, more work is needed in the continent to fill the existing knowledge gaps and provide data to inform the development of evidence-based intervention programs.…”

Section: Conclusion and Global Health Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Infection among People with HIV/AIDS in Africa: Knowledge Gaps, Public Health Preparedness and Research Priorities

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The emergence of novel virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 has complicated Africa’s public health challenges, especially with the pre-existing epidemics such as HIV/AIDS. We highlight the known evidence related to COVID-19 infections among people with HIV (PWH) with specific reference to Africa. The knowledge gaps, level of public health preparedness and the potential research priorities are also outlined. Although the epidemiology and clinical course of COVID-19 in HIV patients are evolving, existing evidence indicate that the disease outcomes are comparable to that of the general population. However, PWH with low CD4 cell counts may have worse outcomes than individuals with restored immunity, whereas old age and co-morbidities such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes can further increase their overall risk. While there may be slight disruption of HIV service delivery in selected African countries, the resilience and resourcefulness of others have helped to sustain HIV service delivery and enhanced the level of public health preparedness and fight against the pandemic. The paucity of data and research studies on HIV-COVID-19 coinfection in Africa, call for concerted efforts to address these limitations. Keywords: • COVID-19 • SARS-CoV-2 • HIV • PWH • Public Health • Research • Africa Copyright © 2021 Essien, et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.

show abstract

Preparedness of health facilities providing HIV services during COVID-19 pandemic and assessment of their compliance to COVID-19 prevention measures: findings from the Tanzania Service Provision Assessment (SPA) survey

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

The COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare systems in Africa: a scoping review of preparedness, impact and response

The COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare systems in Africa: a scoping review of preparedness, impact and response

Experience of adherence to treatment among patients with coronary artery disease during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

COVID-19 Infection among People with HIV/AIDS in Africa: Knowledge Gaps, Public Health Preparedness and Research Priorities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About