| Autor: |
Lauren E Parmley, Kieran Hartsough, Oliver Eleeza, Akopon Bertin, Bockarie Sesay, Amon Njenga, Mame Toure, Ginika Egesimba, Haja Bah, Alex Bayoh, Abdulraheem Yakubu, Ellen A B Morrison, Susan Michaels-Strasser |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2021 |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 4, p e0250236 (2021) |
| Druh dokumentu: |
article |
| ISSN: |
1932-6203 |
| DOI: |
10.1371/journal.pone.0250236 |
| Popis: |
After a decade of civil war and the 2014-2016 West African Ebola outbreak, Sierra Leone now faces the COVID-19 pandemic with a fragile health system. As was demonstrated during Ebola, preparedness is key to limiting a health crisis' spread and impact on health systems and ensuring continued care for vulnerable populations including people living with HIV (PLHIV). To assess COVID-19 preparedness and inform interventions to ensure continuity of HIV services at health facilities (HFs) and community service points (CSPs), we conducted site readiness assessments in Freetown, the epicenter of COVID-19 in Sierra Leone. Data were collected at nine high-volume HIV HFs and seven CSPs in April 2020, a month after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. CSPs comprised three community drop-in centers providing HIV counseling and testing services as well as HIV prevention services (e.g., condoms and lubricants) for key and priority populations and four community-based support groups serving PLHIV. At the time of assessment, CSPs did not provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) but were considered potential sites for expansion of differentiated service delivery (DSD)-a client-centered approach to HIV care-in the context of COVID-19. Overall, 5/9 HFs had trained staff on use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and prevention of COVID-19 transmission. Most had access to masks (5/9) and gloves (7/9) for management of suspected/confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 4/9 HFs had triage procedures for isolation of suspected cases. Conversely, few CSPs had access to masks (2/7) or gloves (2/7) and no staff were trained on PPE use or COVID-19 transmission. 7/9 HFs had adequate ART stock for multi-month dispensing though few had procedures for (3/9) or had trained staff in providing DSD (2/9). Among CSPs where measures were applicable, 2/4 had procedures for DSD, 1/3 had staff trained on DSD and none had adequate ART stock. Identification of gaps in COVID-19 preparedness is a critical step in providing support for infection control and modified service delivery. Findings from this assessment highlight gaps in COVID-19 preparedness measures at sites supporting PLHIV in Sierra Leone and indicate CSPs may require intensive supervision and training to ensure HIV services are uninterrupted while minimizing COVID-19 risk, especially if used as sites to scale up DSD. |
| Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
| Externí odkaz: |
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