Protecting HIV service delivery for key populations in southern Africa in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Godfrey Musuka; Tafadzwa Dzinamarira; Roda Madziva; Helena Herrera; Wafaa El Sadr

doi:10.1016/j.ijregi.2022.03.008

Protecting HIV service delivery for key populations in southern Africa in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

IJID Reg. 2022 Jun:3:114-116. doi: 10.1016/j.ijregi.2022.03.008. Epub 2022 Mar 16.

Authors

Godfrey Musuka¹, Tafadzwa Dzinamarira^{1

2}, Roda Madziva³, Helena Herrera⁴, Wafaa El Sadr^{5

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ ICAP, Columbia University, Harare, Zimbabwe.
² School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa.
³ School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
⁴ School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
⁵ ICAP, Columbia University, New York, USA.
⁶ Department of Medicine, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, USA.
⁷ Columbia World Projects, New York, USA.

Abstract

The 2025 UNAIDS targets prioritize reaching all subpopulations living with HIV and those at risk for HIV as the only pathway to achieving control of the HIV epidemic. This has brought to the fore the importance of addressing the needs of key marginalized groups and placing such communities at the center of HIV response strategies. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a setback in terms of confronting HIV. With this in mind, it is important not only to protect services within HIV responses among key populations, but also to expand such services to meet the UNAIDS 2025 targets. Without this, gains in controlling COVID-19 may be achieved at the expense of losses in controlling the spread of HIV, which had been achieved after sustained and resource-intensive actions.

Keywords: Africa; HIV care continuum; HIV prevention; key and vulnerable populations; men who have sex with men; sex workers.

Publication types

Review