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Anecdotal reports have been followed by widespread data suggesting that #COVID19 is beginning to have a substantial impact on the hard-fought gains made against the #HIV pandemic. We can’t afford not to act. (1/10)
We now know that people living with HIV are struggling to get their lifesaving medicines. As of July, @PEPFAR reported that the median delay in receiving treatment was 35 days for adults and 29 days for children. (2/10)
Supply and demand issues contribute to this delay. Most ARVs are made in India, where lockdowns & transport challenges have slowed the supply chain. Clinics have cut hours, making it harder to establish care or pickup drugs at co-located pharmacies (3/10)
Patients have struggled to pick up meds during lockdowns, with public transit only just resuming. Programs were already switching to multi-month dispensing, which helps (especially if a 4-6 month supply is given) but requires larger stocks of ARVs (4/10) https://www.voanews.com/africa/ugandan-boda-bodas-return-road-requirements
When patients start treatment it can take years for their CD4 count to recover. Without treatment, these gains are quickly lost as the virus resumes rapid replication. As CD4 counts drop, patients become vulnerable to potentially deadly opportunistic infections (5/10)
Unfortunately, this is why modeling published in @TheLancetHIV suggests that a 6 month interruption in ART for 50% of the population would lead to an extra 300,000 HIV-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa (h/t @brittajewell et al) (6/10) https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhiv/article/PIIS2352-3018(20)30211-3/fulltext
We can’t wait until this modeling becomes reality. Here's how Congress can act:
increase support to @PEPFAR to expand multi-month dispensing & ensure adequate stock levels
fully fund @GlobalFund’s request for $4B over 2 years to protect the AIDS, TB & malaria response (7/10)
increase support to @PEPFAR to expand multi-month dispensing & ensure adequate stock levelsfully fund @GlobalFund’s request for $4B over 2 years to protect the AIDS, TB & malaria response (7/10)
assist with surge funding for healthcare worker salaries so clinics can run every day of the week, reducing congestion and allowing for social distancing provide funding support to partner nations as they transition to community-based ARV dispensing (8/10)
ensure health workers have adequate PPE as they fight both COVID and HIV, by removing @USAID restrictions that block aid recipients from using U.S. funds to buy PPE without prior approval (9/10)
We’ve collectively made tremendous progress bending the HIV pandemic curve. We can't let COVID bend it back. Now is the time for the US to step up our leadership role - hundreds of thousands of lives depend on it.
