Challenges facing harm reduction interventions in the era of COVID-19 in Africa

Impact of COVID-19 on substance use disorder treatment services in Kenya: Qualitative findings from healthcare providers

“…Just as one participant recalled a client referring to COVID-19 as a “white man disease,” participants in a qualitative study in South Africa reported this misconception as well ( Schmidt et al., 2020 ). Similarly, another study from sites across the African continent identified that some people who inject drugs had the misconception that COVID-19 only affects the middle and upper class ( Gachohi et al., 2020 ; Ibrahim, 2020 ; Schmidt et al., 2020 ). Fear and stigmatization of healthcare workers and the categorization of disease based on race or social class is not novel to the COVID-19 pandemic; similar responses were reported during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa ( Nossiter, 2014 ; O'Leary et al., 2018 ; Sow et al., 2016 ).…”

“…Moreover, this study explores how providers overcame these barriers. The themes that emerged during these interviews (misconceptions surrounding COVID-19 ( Gachohi et al., 2020 ; Ibrahim, 2020 ; Schmidt et al., 2020 ), inadequate access to COVID-19 diagnostic supplies ( Ihekweazu & Agogo, 2020 ; Simons, 2020 ), diminished access to harm reduction services, and limited availability of material resources ( OECD, 2020 ; Onyebuchi, 2020 ) reflect what has been reported in high-income settings ( Bartholomew et al., 2020 ; Glick et al., 2020 ; Kishore & Hayden, 2020 ; Picchio et al., 2020 ; Vasylyeva et al., 2020 ; Whitfield et al., 2020 , World Health Organization [WHO], 2020a ). This study not only identifies the impact COVID-19 had on providers at DICs and MAT clinics, it also demonstrates provider-level understandings of client needs.…”

Segmentation of African countries based on infection and death rates of COVID-19 before vaccination: A rigid population to source for workforce amidst the pandemic?

“…According to Orisakwe et al [21] , plants such as ginger, turmeric, garlic, pawpaw leaves, guava, and neem were found to be ready sources of home remedy against the disease. In another research, Gachohi, Garanja and Mwangi [11] examined the challenges faced by the efforts to curtail the spread of coronavirus in Africa. The authors attributed one of these challenges to the high number of people who use drugs (PWUDs) in sub-Saharan Africa.…”

COVID-19 Highlights the Need for Inclusive Responses to Public Health Emergencies in Africa

“…Some researchers have also reported how people who use drugs are left out of the COVID-19 responses in some African countries, for example, Kenya and Nigeria, with the potential threat of affecting HIV response and access to healthcare services among this group. 8 , 12 COVID-19 has also been reported to exacerbate long-standing problems in Africa’s prisons and how precautionary measures, such as handwashing and physical distancing to reduce disease transmission among the inmates, are challenging to observe because of poor infrastructure. 13 A report from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, the regions with consistently high maternal and neonatal mortality rates, also revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has grossly affected antenatal care services.…”