COVID-19 Pandemic, Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Care, and HIV/STI Testing Among Patients Receiving Care in Three HIV Epidemic Priority States

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to disrupt HIV prevention services. We conducted an electronic health record analysis of PrEP, HIV, and STI visits at eight sexual health clinics in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma during the onset of the pandemic (March 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020) and compared the data with pre-pandemic (March 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019) volumes. Our data revealed a significant increase in the proportion of male PrEP visits during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period, with the majority provided via telehealth/telePrEP. Overall, HIV and STI testing significantly decreased during the pandemic period.

COVID-19-Related Disruptions to HIV Testing and Prevention Among Young Sexual Minority Men 17–24 Years Old: A Qualitative Study Using Synchronous Online Focus Groups, April–September 2020

“…As PrEP requires ongoing testing for prescription, it was also noted that due to changes in their addresses and moving in with relatives who may not approve or know of their sexuality, they were not able to attend their typical appointments and instead, for example, were going to wait until they were able to move back to their college-setting where culturally competent care was readily accessible. Our results align with patient and clinic-based reports of reductions in HIV and STI testing during the pandemic (Hill et al, 2021 ; Stephenson et al, 2021 ), and while telehealth was successfully used to support continued PrEP use for some during the pandemic (Hill et al, 2021 ; Rogers et al, 2021 ), our data lead us to believe YSMM may have suffered disproportionately from disruptions to clinic-based care given their unique living circumstances and confidentiality concerns.…”

Operational Research to Assess the Real-Time Impact of COVID-19 on TB and HIV Services: The Experience and Response from Health Facilities in Harare, Zimbabwe

“…The overall reductions in HIV testing were similar to what has been observed in Europe [ 34 ], the USA [ 35 ] and Africa [ 36 ]. It is likely, though, that we have overestimated the COVID-19 impact on HIV testing because of Zimbabwe adopting a more targeted approach, promoting HIV self-testing and focusing on index HIV testing before the onslaught of COVID-19.…”

Assessing the Real-Time Impact of COVID-19 on TB and HIV Services: The Experience and Response from Selected Health Facilities in Nairobi, Kenya

“…Despite the pre-COVID-19 decline, HIV testing numbers in health facilities remained low during the 12 months of COVID-19. The reduction in numbers is similar to the reductions in HIV testing volumes that have been documented in Europe, the USA and other countries in Africa [36][37][38][39]. The decrease in HIV testing threatens access to diagnosis and treatment, resulting in excess HIV-related deaths and ongoing transmission of HIV in the community.…”