ABSTRACT
The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) supports molecular HIV and tuberculosis diagnostic networks and information management systems in low- and middle-income countries. We describe how national programs leveraged these PEPFAR-supported laboratory resources for SARS-CoV-2 testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sent a spreadsheet template consisting of 46 indicators for assessing the use of PEPFAR-supported diagnostic networks for COVID-19 pandemic response activities during April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, to 27 PEPFAR-supported countries or regions. A total of 109 PEPFAR-supported centralized HIV viral load and early infant diagnosis laboratories and 138 decentralized HIV and TB sites reported performing SARS-CoV-2 testing in 16 countries. Together, these sites contributed to >3.4 million SARS-CoV-2 tests during the 1-year period. Our findings illustrate that PEPFAR-supported diagnostic networks provided a wide range of resources to respond to emergency COVID-19 diagnostic testing in 16 low- and middle-income countries.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , HIV Infections , Humans , COVID-19 Testing , Pathology, Molecular , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2 , COVID-19/diagnosisABSTRACT
Large public-health training events may result in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. Universal SARS-CoV-2 testing during trainings for the Uganda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment identified 28 of 475 (5.9%) individuals with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among attendees; most (89.3%) were asymptomatic. Until COVID-19 vaccine is readily available for staff and participants, effective COVID-19 mitigation measures, along with SARS-CoV-2 testing, are recommended for in-person trainings, particularly when trainees will have subsequent contact with survey participants.