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Measuring the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures on sexual health behaviours and access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for people living with HIV in Botswana

INTRODUCTION: Uninterrupted access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services is essential, particularly in high HIV prevalence settings, to prevent unintended pregnancy and vertical HIV transmission. Understanding the challenges that COVID-19 and associated social distancing measures...

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Autores principales: Ensor, Samuel, Mechie, Imogen, Ryan, Rebecca, Mussa, Aamirah, Bame, Bame, Tamuthiba, Lefhela, Moshashane, Neo, Morroni, Chelsea
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10030995/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36970120
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2023.981478
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author Ensor, Samuel
Mechie, Imogen
Ryan, Rebecca
Mussa, Aamirah
Bame, Bame
Tamuthiba, Lefhela
Moshashane, Neo
Morroni, Chelsea
author_facet Ensor, Samuel
Mechie, Imogen
Ryan, Rebecca
Mussa, Aamirah
Bame, Bame
Tamuthiba, Lefhela
Moshashane, Neo
Morroni, Chelsea
author_sort Ensor, Samuel
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Uninterrupted access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services is essential, particularly in high HIV prevalence settings, to prevent unintended pregnancy and vertical HIV transmission. Understanding the challenges that COVID-19 and associated social distancing measures (SDMs) posed on health service access is imperative for future planning. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Botswana between January–February 2021. A web-based questionnaire was disseminated on social media as part of the International Sexual Health and REproductive Health (I-SHARE) Survey. Respondents answered questions on SRH, before and during COVID-19 SDMs. Subgroup analysis and comparison of descriptive data was performed for people living with HIV (PLWH). RESULTS: Of 409 participants, 65 were PLWH (80% female, 20% male). During SDMs, PLWH found it more difficult to access condoms and treatment for HIV and STIs; attend HIV appointments; and maintain adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Compared to HIV-negative women, a higher proportion of women living with HIV used condoms as their primary method of contraception (54% vs. 48%), and had lower use of long-acting reversible contraception (8% vs. 14%) and dual contraception (8% vs. 16%). DISCUSSION: Mirroring global trends, COVID-19 disrupted HIV and SRH service access in Botswana. However, in high HIV-prevalence settings, disruption may more severely impact population health with disproportionate effects on women. Integration of HIV and SRH services could build health system capacity and resilience, reduce missed opportunities for delivering SRH services to PLWH and limit the consequences of future restrictions that may cause health system disruption
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spelling pubmed-100309952023-03-23 Measuring the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures on sexual health behaviours and access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for people living with HIV in Botswana Ensor, Samuel Mechie, Imogen Ryan, Rebecca Mussa, Aamirah Bame, Bame Tamuthiba, Lefhela Moshashane, Neo Morroni, Chelsea Front Glob Womens Health Global Women's Health INTRODUCTION: Uninterrupted access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services is essential, particularly in high HIV prevalence settings, to prevent unintended pregnancy and vertical HIV transmission. Understanding the challenges that COVID-19 and associated social distancing measures (SDMs) posed on health service access is imperative for future planning. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Botswana between January–February 2021. A web-based questionnaire was disseminated on social media as part of the International Sexual Health and REproductive Health (I-SHARE) Survey. Respondents answered questions on SRH, before and during COVID-19 SDMs. Subgroup analysis and comparison of descriptive data was performed for people living with HIV (PLWH). RESULTS: Of 409 participants, 65 were PLWH (80% female, 20% male). During SDMs, PLWH found it more difficult to access condoms and treatment for HIV and STIs; attend HIV appointments; and maintain adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Compared to HIV-negative women, a higher proportion of women living with HIV used condoms as their primary method of contraception (54% vs. 48%), and had lower use of long-acting reversible contraception (8% vs. 14%) and dual contraception (8% vs. 16%). DISCUSSION: Mirroring global trends, COVID-19 disrupted HIV and SRH service access in Botswana. However, in high HIV-prevalence settings, disruption may more severely impact population health with disproportionate effects on women. Integration of HIV and SRH services could build health system capacity and resilience, reduce missed opportunities for delivering SRH services to PLWH and limit the consequences of future restrictions that may cause health system disruption Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-03-08 /pmc/articles/PMC10030995/ /pubmed/36970120 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2023.981478 Text en © 2023 Ensor, Mechie, Ryan, Mussa, Bame, Tamuthiba, Moshashane and Morroni. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Global Women's Health
Ensor, Samuel
Mechie, Imogen
Ryan, Rebecca
Mussa, Aamirah
Bame, Bame
Tamuthiba, Lefhela
Moshashane, Neo
Morroni, Chelsea
Measuring the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures on sexual health behaviours and access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for people living with HIV in Botswana
title Measuring the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures on sexual health behaviours and access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for people living with HIV in Botswana
title_full Measuring the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures on sexual health behaviours and access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for people living with HIV in Botswana
title_fullStr Measuring the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures on sexual health behaviours and access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for people living with HIV in Botswana
title_full_unstemmed Measuring the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures on sexual health behaviours and access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for people living with HIV in Botswana
title_short Measuring the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures on sexual health behaviours and access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for people living with HIV in Botswana
title_sort measuring the impact of covid-19 social distancing measures on sexual health behaviours and access to hiv and sexual and reproductive health services for people living with hiv in botswana
topic Global Women's Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10030995/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36970120
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2023.981478
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