HIV and COVID-19: Lessons From HIV and STI Harm Reduction Strategies

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review highlights the intersection of the COVID-19, HIV, and STI pandemics and examines how harm reduction strategies can be applied broadly to controlling a pandemic. RECENT FINDINGS: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, remarkable advances in the understanding of COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis, and treatment have been made at a much faster pace than prior pandemics, yet much more still remains to be discovered. Many of the strategies to control the COVID-19 pandemic mirror those employed to stem the HIV pandemic. SUMMARY: Harm reduction principles used in the HIV pandemic can be applied to reduce the morbidity and mortality of the COVID-19 pandemic through effective prevention, detection, and treatment strategies.