HIV/AIDS among children in Ratodero, Pakistan amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges, efforts, and recommendations

Mohan, Anmol; Shaikh, Muhammad Taha Arshad; Wara, Um Ul; Rackimuthu, Sudhan; Costa, Ana Carla dos Santos; Lal, Priyanka Mohan; Ahmad, Shoaib; Essar, Mohammad Yasir

doi:10.1016/j.cegh.2021.100878

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Due to societal embarrassment and the burden of admitting the reality of extramarital sexual behavior, which embarrasses them in front of their families and even doctors, patients occasionally are reluctant to disclose symptoms at clinics. The growing number of new HIV patients, coupled with the lengthy travel durations to receive medical attention, substantially restrict the accessibility and adherence of ART 27 …”

Section: Challenges Of Human Immunodeficiency Virusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The growing number of new HIV patients, coupled with the lengthy travel durations to receive medical attention, substantially restrict the accessibility and adherence of ART. 27 Because HIV is a virus that mutates quickly, developing a vaccine to protect against all HIV mutations is a huge issue. 28 Currently, the sole therapeutic option is ART.…”

Section: Challenges Of Human Immunodeficiency Virusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alarming rise in HIV cases in Pakistan: Challenges and future recommendations at hand

Aizaz

Abbas

et al. 2023

Health Science Reports

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BackgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that suppresses the immune system by reducing the CD4+ T lymphocytes level. It has become a global challenge with fast prevalence ratio. Like other developing countries, Pakistan is also struggling for overcoming this viral disease since very first reported case in 1987.AimTo update the society on the alarming rise in HIV cases in Pakistan: challenges and future recommendations at hand.Materials and MethodsThe review paper utilized different search engines such pubmed central, scopus, web of science, google scholar etc. to conduct this review paper.ResultsLack of awareness, low literacy rate, practice of unhygienic equipment in healthcare departments, unstable economy, and unsafe sexual practices are the major factors behind the increasing rate of AIDS in Pakistan.ConclusionBy regulating healthcare practices and policies, promoting psychological counseling to HIV positive patients, educating the society and minimizing commercial sex practices, Pakistan can overcome this viral disease.

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Section: Challenges Of Human Immunodeficiency Virusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Challenges Of Human Immunodeficiency Virusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alarming rise in HIV cases in Pakistan: Challenges and future recommendations at hand

Aizaz

Abbas

et al. 2023

Health Science Reports

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“…Approximately, 147,851 individuals in Pakistan do not have access to it and 7182 patients missed a follow-up visit in the last 6 months [ 8 , 9 ] usually because of the social stigma and resistance to accepting the existence of non-marital sexual activity, which hinders patients from reporting symptoms at clinics, drawing scorn from families and even physicians. ART availability and adherence are severely hampered by the rising number of new HIV patients and great travel distances to seek medical treatment as there is a lack of expertise to run ART clinics [ 10 ]. Due to the rising annual rate of inflation [ 11 ], the ARTs are running out of stock as they are not manufactured in Pakistan and must be imported.…”

Section: Commentarymentioning

confidence: 99%

The rise in HIV cases in Pakistan: Prospective implications and approaches

Bilal

Khan

Sadiq

et al. 2022

Annals of Medicine &Amp; Surgery

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“…Throughout the world, there are calls for the expansion of video-directly observed therapy in addition to telemedicine clinical visits. In Pakistan, providers caring for CALHIV have requested telemedicine to improve access to specialists for remote clinics [ 36 ]. With new medical products and technologies already deployed to support tuberculosis programs, the function of e-Laboratories has been scaled up to include viral load and COVID-19 results on equipment previously used for TB GeneXpert assays [ 37 ].…”

Section: Review Of the Literature: Pediatric Dsd Programming In The C...mentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Ignited a Successful Growth Spurt in Pediatric HIV Differentiated Service Delivery Programming

Petrus¹,

Balungi²,

Wanless³

2022

Curr Trop Med Rep

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Purpose of Review Pediatric HIV differentiated service delivery (DSD) programming has historically lagged behind adult care despite WHO recommendations to include family-friendly alternatives for children and caregivers. This review explores the status of Pediatric DSD programming before the COVID-19 pandemic and then reviews published differentiated approaches that developed during the pandemic. Recent Findings Differentiated service delivery programming for adults living with HIV has increased worldwide, and patient outcomes from these programs have been positive. Pediatric DSD programming has lagged, with many children ineligible for multi-month refills. Despite WHO recommendations to space ART visits for children, limited access to viral load monitoring and a lack of viral suppression among children have left them out of this more convenient care option. Community ART groups historically were not structured to include children. Furthermore, after-hours clinics and teen clubs with ART dispensing have not reached the majority of CLHIV. Summary This review highlights programs that developed out of necessity during the lockdowns of the pandemic. Ingenuity and creativity forced programmers to provide care to their patients with less patient-clinician interaction. Children became eligible for multi-month dispensing as programs loosened eligibility criteria. Technology helped provide virtual psychological support, and unique ART delivery methods were developed. This rapid expansion or growth spurt, of pediatric DSD programming sped up the inclusion of children into care options that were less burdensome to the family. As we move away from the pandemic and adjust to a new standard, we will remain diligent in ensuring that CLHIV outcomes remain stable or perhaps, improve.

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HIV/AIDS among children in Ratodero, Pakistan amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges, efforts, and recommendations

Cited by 6 publications

References 8 publications

Alarming rise in HIV cases in Pakistan: Challenges and future recommendations at hand

Alarming rise in HIV cases in Pakistan: Challenges and future recommendations at hand

The rise in HIV cases in Pakistan: Prospective implications and approaches

COVID-19 Ignited a Successful Growth Spurt in Pediatric HIV Differentiated Service Delivery Programming

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