Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake and service delivery adaptations during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 21 PEPFAR-funded countries.
PLoS One
; 17(4): e0266280, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1775460
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Mitigation measures for the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and burden on health systems created challenges for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) service delivery. We examined PrEP uptake in PEPFAR programs before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS:
We studied two PEPFAR program monitoring indicators, using routine Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting (MER) indicators capturing uptake of PrEP (PrEP_NEW) and overall use of PrEP (PrEP_CURR). We also analyzed descriptive program narratives to understand successes and challenges field teams encountered after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. To assess changes in coverage of PrEP across 21 countries, we calculated the "PrEP to need ratio" (PnR) using a published methodology. We defined the pre-COVID time period as April 1, 2019 -March 31, 2020 and the COVID time period as April 1, 2020 -March 31, 2021.FINDINGS:
The total number of persons who initiated PrEP increased by 157% from 233,250 in the pre-COVID-19 period compared with 599,935 in the COVID-19 period. All countries, except five, noted significant increases in PrEP uptake. PrEP uptake among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) increased by 159% from 80,452 AGYW in the pre-COVID-19 period to 208,607 AGYW in the COVID-19 period. There were 77,430 key populations (KP) initiated on PrEP in the pre-COVID-19 period and 209,114 KP initiated in the COVID-19 period (a 170% increase). The PnR increased 214% in the COVID-19 period across all PEPFAR-supported countries. Adaptations, such as multi-month dispensing (MMD) of PrEP; virtual demand creation activities; decentralized, community-based and virtual service delivery, were implemented to maintain PrEP services.CONCLUSIONS:
PEPFAR programs continued to maintain and initiate new clients on PrEP despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Adaptations such as MMD of PrEP and use of technology were vital in expanding service delivery and increasing PrEP coverage.FUNDING:
This project has been supported by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
HIV Infections
/
Anti-HIV Agents
/
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Female
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
PLoS One
Journal subject:
Science
/
Medicine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Journal.pone.0266280
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