Abstract
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic seriously threatens general public health services globally. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the HIV care continuum in Jiangsu province, China.MethodsData on newly diagnosed HIV persons for analysis were retrieved from Chinas’ web-based Comprehensive Response Information Management System (CRIMS) for HIV/AIDS from 2016 to 2020. We recorded data for the first 3 months (January to March, 2020) of strictly implementing COVID-19 measures from publicly available disease databases of the Jiangsu provincial Health Committee. We used seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) and exponential smoothing in forecasting the parameters. Subgroup differences were accessed using Chi-square tests.ResultsCompared to the estimated proportions, the HIV testing rates decreased by 49.0% (919,938) in the first three months of implementing COVID-19 measures. Of an estimated 1555 new HIV diagnosis expected in the same period, only 63.0% (980) new diagnoses were recorded. According to actual data recorded during the said period, 980 positively tested persons received confirmatory tests, of which 71.4% (700) were reportedly linked to care. And only 49.5% (235) out of the expected 475 newly diagnosed HIV persons received CD4 cell count testing. Meanwhile 91.6% (208) of newly diagnosed HIV persons who received CD4 count tests reportedly initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) compared to the 227 expected. Compared to the same period from 2016 to 2019, PLWH less than 30 years old and migrants were more likely to be affected by the COVID-19 policies.ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted HIV healthcare systems in Jiangsu, China. Further measures that can counter the impact of the pandemic are needed to maintain the HIV care continuum.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic seriously threatens general public health services globally
Diagnosed HIV cases was retrieved for the first quarter of 2020 (January to March, 2020) when strict COVID-19 preventive measures were in effect in Jiangsu province
Our reported findings follow the structure of the HIV care continuum from testing to antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation due to the short period
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic seriously threatens general public health services globally. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the HIV care continuum in Jiangsu province, China. Located on the east coast of China, Jiangsu province was estimated to have 80.7 million people in 2019 and over 31,000 people living with HIV (PLWH) by the end of 2020 [9]. The number of newly diagnosed HIV cases increased from 899 in 2008 to 3923 in 2020 at an annual growth rate of 13.1%. Amongst newly diagnosed HIV persons, the proportion infected through homosexual behaviors accelerated from 28.0% in 2008 to 56.0% in 2020. 95.1% of newly diagnosed PLWH received free CD4 count testing (a helpful marker of linkage to care system) in 2020
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